Lawlor may face prosecution over 'contradictory evidence'

Former Fianna Fáil TD Mr Liam Lawlor may face prosecution over what the Mahon tribunal described this morning as "contradictory evidence" given under oath.

However, separately, the tribunal deferred its decision on whether or not to send Mr Lawlor to the High Court over his alleged non-compliance with an order of discovery served to him in March 2002, despite the fact he submitted over 11,000 pages of documents on Tuesday.

The tribunal chairman, Judge Alan Mahon, said the three-judge panel would be considering whether or not to contact the Director of Public Prosecutions to decide whether a prosecution was warranted.

Judge Mahon said he was concerned at evidence Mr Lawlor had made an illicit £100,000 sterling payment that he had received following the sale of an acre of land beside his home at Somerton, Lucan, Co Dublin in November 2001.

A decision on whether to send Mr Lawlor to the High Court will be delivered by September 16th. Mr Lawlor has been ordered to appear at the tribunal the following day and has been ordered to file an affidavit "in its correct form" by September 5th.

Last Wednesday, the tribunal decided Mr Lawlor had "failed to a significant degree" to comply with its order. Judge Mahon said this failure warranted sending Mr Lawlor to the Four Courts again, but the tribunal had decided to defer its decision until this morning, giving Mr Lawlor a last chance to submit a sworn affidavit and produce documents.

Mr Des O'Neill, SC for the tribunal, said today Mr Lawlor had delivered around 11,000 pages of financial records to the tribunal on Tuesday evening. Mr O'Neill argued there were "significant and obvious deficits" in the discovery, and Mr Lawlor had also failed to have the affidavit signed in the presence of a lawyer.

"It cannot be said that Mr Lawlor has fully complied with the orders of the tribunal," he said.

However, Mr Lawlor disputed the claim. He insisted he had gone to great lengths to comply, including travelling to visit his lawyers in London and securing the delivery of a large number of files from Seddon's solicitors in Prague.

"Quite honestly, Mr chairman, I don't see how I could advance [the matter] any further," Mr Lawlor said. "There rests the situation . . . the anomalies and gaps are not by intent".

He accepted that he knew, from previous experiences in the High Court, "that it's quality, not quantity, the tribunal wants", but he insisted it was "virtually impossible" in the time at his disposal to comply absolutely.

Mr O'Neill said the documentation had failed to fully explain how Mr Lawlor had spent €316,000 that was withdrawn since March 2002 from an account he held in Gibraltar. Mr Lawlor responded that he thought "the tribunal's function was to find out where you got the funds from, not how you spent it".

Judge Mahon said the tribunal was filled with "bewilderment" that the witness could have spent €170,000 in a "such a short space of time". Mr Lawlor retorted that the chairman was obviously not aware of his financial difficulties, and he pointed out that he faced legal fees of €750,000.

Mr Justice Mahon said the tribunal was interested in the witness's spending because he had claimed previously he had not complied with the orders because he could not afford €10,000 in legal fees.

The former Dublin West TD has spent ten days in the witness box in the past three weeks defending himself against a variety of allegations, including blackmail, money laundering and tax evasion in relation to his financial affairs.

He has maintained his innocence throughout, insisting he has done everything in his power to assist the tribunal's inquiries. He has already been jailed three times for a total of six weeks by the High Court for failure to comply.