THE MORRIS tribunal has found the arrest of Frank McBrearty jnr on December 4th, 1996, on suspicion of the murder of Richie Barron to be unlawful.
During his period of detention Mr McBrearty made signed confessions to Mr Barron's "murder", the tribunal's latest report - published yesterday - says.
Mr McBrearty gave a statement of confession to Det Sgt John Melody and Det Garda John Fitzpatrick at Letterkenny Garda station. A shorter, second statement was made to Sgt Gerard McGrath and Sgt Eamon O'Grady.
The second statement was signed by Mr McBrearty and the tribunal was satisfied that this signature was genuine and that Mr McBrearty had indeed made the statement. But the tribunal found the contents of the statement to be "entirely false".
Mr Justice Frederick Morris said he was "impressed" by the evidence given to the tribunal by Sgt O'Grady and Sgt McGrath.
However, Mr Justice Morris concluded that aspects of Det Garda Fitzpatrick's and Det Sgt Melody's evidence were not credible or fully truthful.
He did not accept their evidence that the first statement of confession was obtained voluntarily from Mr McBrearty in the manner they described.
The tribunal also found Mr McBrearty was treated inappropriately by Det Garda Fitzpatrick and Det Sgt Melody while in custody.
It found he was shown postmortem pictures of Mr Barron's remains and was verbally abused.
However, Mr Justice Morris said that without the benefit of Mr McBrearty's assistance to the tribunal on the matter, it was impossible to conclude if the abuse caused him to "crumble" and make a false confession.
It was also impossible to say why Mr McBrearty made a false confession to the Barron murder, other than to conclude he did indeed make it.
Mr Justice Morris notes: "I am satisfied on the balance of probabilities that at some stage in the day, most likely in the late afternoon, Mr McBrearty jnr's will crumbled such that he agreed with the general Garda scenario and made a false confession."
In general, the tribunal found Mr McBrearty to be a very difficult witness.
It rejected allegations he had been physically assaulted by gardaí or that he was sworn at in front of his children and that they were told by gardaí that their father was a murderer.
The tribunal further concluded that the false confession was now a "notorious" case and that the damage done to Garda morale and reputation was "shattering and debilitating".
The Garda must embrace change and international best practice on interviewing and interrogation to ensure such cases do not arise again, he added.
Mr McBrearty jnr was again arrested on February 4th, 1997, on suspicion of assaulting Edmond Moss at the McBrearty's nightclub in Raphoe, Co Donegal, an offence for which he was later acquitted in court.
The tribunal concluded gardaí put no pressure on Mr Moss to make a statement of complaint or to pursue the case. It also found that while in custody Mr McBrearty became terrified about being questioned by gardaí and had punched himself in the face.
Mr Justice Morris said his state of distress may have been caused by his experience during his earlier period of questioning for the Barron murder.
However, the tribunal found there was no regulatory basis for the use by Sgt John White of a video camera to record the interviews with Mr McBrearty jnr.
"The camera was used and hidden from the detainee and initially from other gardaí," the tribunal found. Sgt White should have sought permission to use the camera from a superior officer but did not. However, when the matter came to light no action was taken against him.
It also found that Sgt White had questioned Mr McBrearty in an "unwarranted and unprofessional" manner.
He had "subjected (Mr McBrearty jnr) to ridicule" as Mr McBrearty jnr lay on the floor by calling him names and questioning his relationship with his father.
The tribunal rejected allegations that Frank McBrearty jnr had been physically assaulted by gardaí or that he was sworn at by gardaí in front of his children.
The tribunal also found him to be a very difficult witness.
But it confirmed his arrest was unlawful and said the false statement extracted from him had a shattering effect on the Gardas reputation.