A detective has denied at the Special Criminal Court that gardai had threatened to arrest the wife of a man accused of having explosives to force him to sign a statement.
Det Sgt Gerard McGrath denied a suggestion by Mr Anthony Sammon SC, defending, that he and another detective were involved in "an elaborate series of lies" to get Mr Seamus McLoughlin to sign an admission.
Mr Eamonn Flanagan (42), of The Square, Skerries, Mr Seamus McLoughlin (67), of Balkill Park, Howth, and Mr Michael Blount (48), of Bath Road, Balbriggan, have pleaded not guilty to possession of an explosive substance with intent to endanger life or to enable another person to do so at West Pier, Howth, on January 5th last year.
A fourth man, Mr Joseph Dillon (53), of Greenlawns, Skerries, who is public relations officer for the 32 County Sovereignty Movement, has pleaded not guilty to possession of an explosive substance with intent to endanger life or to enable another person to do so at Windswept, Golf Links Road, Bettystown, on January 5th last year.
Sgt Mc Grath said that Mr McLoughlin made a statement which he signed four times at Santry Garda station on January 9th last year. In the statement Mr McLoughlin, a haulage contractor, admitted loading bags of ground-down fertiliser onto his truck from a house at Bettystown and bringing them to a disused fish shop in Howth, where he later helped to unload them. Mr McLoughlin said that one of the men with him had told him the ground-down fertiliser was for explosives.
Sgt McGrath said no threats or inducements were made to Mr McLoughlin during his interviews with gardai.
Det Garda James B. Hanley denied a suggestion by Mr Sammon that he had composed the written statement and that it was "fictitious".
The trial continues today.