Garda told wife he 'perjured himself'

A detective garda told his wife that he had perjured himself during the trial of Co Donegal nightclub owner Mr Frank Shortt in order to help get then inspector (now superintendent) Kevin Lennon promoted, the Court of Criminal Appeal was told yesterday. Mr Shortt served a three-year sentence for allowing his club to be used for the sale of drugs.

Det Garda Noel McMahon, formerly of Buncrana Garda station, had also said it was his evidence that led to Mr Shortt's conviction, his wife, Ms Sheena McMahon, said. Her husband was upset that Mr Shortt had been jailed for three years. He had not expected that and was "almost crying".

"He told me he had perjured himself in court and that he did it for Kevin Lennon, to help him get promoted," Ms McMahon said.

Her husband had also told her that there was an unassembled bomb in the shed of their home in Buncrana. Another garda sergeant had located three detonators in a box in the shed in about 1997 or 1998, she added.

Mr McMahon had put a gun to her head at one point and she had also shown a court bruises and marks on her body. She had secured a barring order and a protection order against him.

Her husband was angry that Supt Lennon, also formerly attached to Buncrana station, had received a Policeman of the Year award arising from the conviction of Mr Shortt. Mr McMahon had said he had done all the work to secure the conviction and that Supt Lennon got the credit.

Ms McMahon, with an address in Buncrana, and now estranged from her husband, was giving evidence in the hearing of an application by Mr Shortt for a certificate declaring a miscarriage of justice in his case. Mr Shortt served a three-year sentence after being convicted in 1995. In November 2000, his conviction was quashed by the Court of Criminal Appeal. The Director of Public Prosecutions neither opposed the quashing of the conviction nor sought a retrial.

Yesterday, Ms McMahon said she married Mr McMahon in 1980 and they separated in January 1999. In October last year, she had successful treatment for alcohol abuse. Her drinking arose because she could not cope with the marriage, which had started to go "really bad" in the mid-1990s. At one point, her children were taken into care, and that was "the last straw".

She had made a statement to the Carty inquiry into allegations of corruption among gardaí in Donegal and had also spoken to a separate Garda internal disciplinary inquiry.

Prior to Mr Shortt's trial her husband had been working undercover at the Point Inn with a female garda, Ms Tina Fowley. This went on for months.

She said that her husband, Supt Lennon, Ms Fowley and Garda Brendan Joyce were in a room of her home on one occasion. Her husband told her they were doing a statement for Mr Shortt's trial. Mr Joyce was typing at the computer and Supt Lennon was reading from a notebook which she knew to be her husband's. Supt Lennon was reading and would say "Leave that in" or "Take that out". She believed Supt Lennon was in charge.

When Mr Shortt was jailed, her husband was upset. He had said that Tina Fowley nearly made a mess of the whole thing and that it was his evidence which convicted Mr Shortt.

There were times when her husband and Supt Lennon got on well and other times when they were "at each other's throats". Supt Lennon's wife had phoned her on one occasion to tell her that Noel McMahon was to get an award for his work on the Shortt case. However, the award went to the superintendent, and her husband was very bitter.

Ms McMahon was shown a number of documents, including Garda Representative Association diaries. She identified handwriting in those as her husband's. She also said she had taken some documents and other things from their former home for her protection when she "learned of other stuff" involving other gardaí. "I still don't understand what is going on," she said.

Mr Eoin McGonigal SC, for Mr Shortt, showed the witness some loose pages. She said the handwriting on those was her husband's and read some words from the pages, including "Point Inn", "perjury", "set up" and "I'll blow your brains out".

Asked about a reference to Mick Brennan, she said he was a sergeant in Letterkenny who had been helping her clear out a shed at her home in Buncrana when he found a box with three detonators. This would have been about 1997 or 1998. She herself had found two steel objects which she hid from Sgt Brennan. She had been told the objects were given to her husband by Ms Adrienne McGlinchey.

Ms McGlinchey had come to her in early 1999 very upset and annoyed and had said it was "nothing but loose talk" about what happened in Buncrana. Her husband had told her not to mention Ms McGlinchey's name to anyone. He had said Ms McGlin-chey was an IRA informer. Ms McGlinchey told her she had been "lifted" for 11 hours by the IRA and questioned. Ms McGlinchey had said she [Ms McMahon\] would need to watch herself and her children.

Ms McMahon said she did not recall saying to Ms McGlinchey that Mr Shortt was "set up". She recalled that Ms McGlinchey had mentioned the Point Inn and had asked did Ms McMahon know anything about her involvement. Ms McMahon had said that she did not know anything.

When she had applied for a barring order against her husband, she was surprised that Supt Lennon and other gardaí had turned up in court. Her husband later told her that Supt Lennon had arranged for the gardaí to be there and that he had forced him [Mr McMahon] to accept the barring order because Ms McMahon was liable to "come out with anything".