Garda 'planted gun' in Traveller encampment

Burnfoot Module:Donegal Det Sgt John White planted a gun in a Traveller encampment to ensure that people there could be arrested, the fifth report of the Morris tribunal has found.

The finding in the report on the so-called Burnfoot Module of the Morris tribunal, published yesterday, comes weeks after a jury at Letterkenny Circuit Court found Sgt White not guilty of planting the gun.

The report of the tribunal of inquiry into the arrest and detention of seven people at Burnfoot, Co Donegal, in May 1998 and the investigation relating to it, said it was satisfied that Sgt White "planted a very old double barrelled sawn-off shotgun, together with clothes and cartridges, at the Travellers' encampment at Burnfoot".

The tribunal found that this was done to secure the arrest of seven Travellers there.

While Sgt White was aided by Det Garda Tom Kilcoyne, the tribunal found that he was the "instigator and dominant personality" in the plan.

The report also found that when Sgt White was charged with the offence, three gardaí conspired to invent a story to acquit him.

The search of the encampment on May 23rd, 1998, was based on the suspicion that people there had been involved in the murder of Edward Fitzmaurice, who was killed two weeks earlier in a house in Bellaghy, Charlestown, Co Mayo.

The report found that "the main initiative and momentum" for carrying out the search came from Sgt White. But it said that it was satisfied Sgt White received some evidence that the Travellers had been involved in the murder.

The night before the search, the tribunal found that Sgt White discussed his plans with Garda Kilcoyne and told him that a gun needed to be found at the encampment so that arrests could be made. The men first retrieved a gun in Sgt White's possession, then travelled to the encampment where Sgt White planted it.

The following morning a search party of upwards of 20 gardaí searched the encampment and the gun was found hanging on a spike on a steel door at one of the outhouses near the encampment. Seven members of the Traveller community were arrested: Thomas Collins, Timothy Collins, David Power, Bernard Power, John McCann, Michael McCann and John Casey. They were held under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act. No charges were ever brought against them.

The tribunal report said that it was satisfied that the seven men had nothing to do with the murder of Mr Fitzmaurice.

It found that the arrests were unlawful, since the evidence had been planted. "This was a peaceful and well-ordered group of people," the report said.

It found that the men "were referred to casually by derogatory names" while in custody but could not conclude that any member of the gardaí assaulted or abused anyone while in custody, due in part to the "unsatisfactory state of evidence" relating to the claims.

In 1999 Garda Kilcoyne moved to another unit after applying for a transfer and his conscience troubled him. Rumours of illegitimacy concerning the Burnfoot search and arrest also grew within the force.

In June 2001, after being invited to discuss the rumours, Garda Kilcoyne made a statement. "My moral dilemma was that I was involved in planting the gun . . . since the event it has troubled me greatly," his statement said. "I regretted deeply that it happened and that I didn't report it." The tribunal accepted his evidence.

"The tribunal is satisfied that Det Garda Kilcoyne is both accurate and honest in the account that he has given of the events of the night of the 22nd May 1998," the report said.

It also said that he "candidly admitted" that he had not tried to stop Sgt White because "he had been weak and negligent in his duty".

In relation to warrants for the search, the report could not pin down exactly when they were issued by Supt Kevin Lennon, but it criticised both Supt Lennon and Sgt White.

"The lies that have been told by Det Sgt White and Supt Lennon on this aspect have rendered it impossible for the tribunal to establish exactly when they were issued," the report said.

The tribunal found there was no evidence of a conspiracy against Sgt White within the force, as he had alleged in his defence, and that no one had put Garda Kilcoyne up to making a statement in June 2001.

After Sgt White was charged with planting the gun, the tribunal found that Garda Martin Leonard, Sgt Jack Conaty and Garda Pádraig Mulligan met and decided to form a conspiracy to "corruptly invent a story" to provide a defence for him.

"They made allegations against two completely innocent and unconnected members of An Garda Síochána, Garda Eamon McConigley and Garda Tom Moran, which implicated them in planting the gun," the report said.

They attempted to frame the two men with a false confession and lied to the tribunal. "All three men were determined to make trouble at every hand's turn and to create as much black mischief through lies as would defeat any legitimate inquiry for truth," the tribunal said.

Recommendations contained at end of module

• The power to issue a warrant to search, under Section 29 of the Offences Against the State Act, 1939, should be vested in a judge.

• A senior member of An Garda Síochána could be vested with the power to issue search warrants but only in exceptional cases.

• The person who issued the warrant should be notified of its execution within a time limit.

• Serious consideration should be given to the effectiveness of case management structures in judicial review cases and to the appropriateness of the very low threshold that applies in commencing such cases.

• Courts should recognise that there are cases that should be designated and given A1 priority for their disposal.

• A High Court judge should be designated term by term to deal with A1 priority cases and should be given enough time and resources to produce urgent judgments.