Morris tribunal: A Donegal garda has told how she came forward to the Carty team in 1999 to make an allegation that she saw an inspector copying the signature of Frank McBrearty jnr while the Raphoe publican was in Garda custody for the murder of hit-and-run victim Richie Barron. She denied the allegation was made to set up the inspector.
"I spent the best part of five or six weeks mulling the thing over, trying to determine, to pick up the courage to make my concerns known," Garda Tina Fowley told the tribunal.
At a meeting with Insp Hugh Coll of the Carty team, Garda Fowley first made the allegation that Insp John McGinley showed her a signature and asked her "is that a good likeness?" Insp McGinley says the incident never occurred.
Garda Fowley had gone to the Carty team because she was asked for a statement about a notebook belonging to Garda John O'Dowd.
Michael Durack SC, for Insp McGinley, said that in evidence Garda O'Dowd alleged he was given a statement by Sgt John White, in which he said that Garda Fowley would confirm he had lost the notebook.
"Garda O'Dowd told us in evidence that this statement was prepared for him by Sgt White, and that he had put it in at the direction or recommendation of Sgt White, and that the purpose of the statement was to direct the Carty team to you, so that first of all you could provide backup for his allegation that he had mislaid the notebook, and second of all to allow you to make your current allegation against Mr McGinley about practising the signature," Mr Durack said.
"That is not the case," Garda Fowley said. "Right when I was walking over to the internal investigation office to submit that particular statement, it wasn't until I actually asked to speak to Insp Hugh Coll that I even knew on that night whether I was going to say what I had been thinking about saying . . . It required a considerable degree of nerve to pick up. I was not party to whatever was transpiring between Det Sgt White and Garda John O'Dowd."
Garda Fowley said the incident had been on her mind since she read a newspaper article in April 1999 that Mr McBrearty had denied making a confession.