Hardiman says innocent man 'perjured into prison'

The State authorities conceded only after "a long struggle" that Frank Shortt was the victim of "the worst-known oppression of a citizen by the State" but the Garda force has yet to apologise to him, Mr Justice Adrian Hardiman said.

What happened to Mr Shortt was "so outrageous as almost to defy description but the Garda force has yet to admit this". Mr Shortt was "perjured into prison" by "out-of-control" gardaí and the whole affair graphically illustrated the conclusion of Morris tribunal chairman Mr Justice Frederick Morris that the Garda was "losing their status as a disciplined force".

This case "plainly demonstrated" that some gardaí will lie to further their careers and will lie again on oath to avoid the consequences of the first set of lies", he said. It also revealed that the prospect of such lies being detected was restricted by an attitude within the Garda not to "hang" each other and showed that it did no favour to the Garda to give their members' evidence in courts a special credence.

The enormous power conferred on the gardaí made what happened in this case "nothing less than an obscenity". The outrageousness of what was done, the very long period required to discover it, the failure of An Garda Síochána expressly to acknowledge and apologise for the misdeeds of its members and the grave risk to society as a whole if gardaí behaved as some of those involved in this case did, made it "absolutely necessary" to award substantial exemplary damages.

If there were no such award, the courts would be making themselves part of the problem rather than part of the solution, Mr Justice Hardiman added.

There were many features of "oppressiveness, arrogance or outrage" about the conduct of the "paying parties". False charges were preferred against an innocent man in the expectation he would plead guilty as part of a "semi-deal". When he did not, he was ultimately jailed for three years.

Even yet, the judge observed, no explanation had been provided to the courts as to how someone in authority later "very cynically arranged" for an offer to be made to Mr Shortt that - on condition he dropped his appeal against his conviction which would involve acknowledging his guilt - he would secure early release.

Mr Shortt found the strength to reject that conditional offer. After a long struggle by dedicated legal advisers, the prosecution suddenly and without any substantive explanation consented to his conviction being quashed some years after his release.

Mr Justice Hardiman said the State's apology to Mr Shortt last year was "carefully drafted", belated and limited. No apology of any kind was offered until the Supreme Court expressed surprise at the absence of an apology and the apology given did not purport to be on behalf of the Garda.

If it was desired to wholly vindicate Mr Shortt, it was "impossible" to understand why the Garda specifically would not have apologised since, acknowledged his innocence and condemned those directly responsible for his misery and degradation.

The conspiracy against him was committed by gardaí who seemed to have borne Mr Shortt no personal ill will but acted for the purpose "of furthering their own careers and in particular that of their commander and mentor - Insp, later Supt, Kevin Lennon, who inspired the perjury and gave it a form and coherence which his principal coadjutor, Det Garda Noel McMahon, was himself incapable of achieving".

Each of these men were so unscrupulous that they "seriously frightened each other".

When they were in their full power, their behaviour to Mr Shortt was cynical, brutal, calculated and oppressive. Deep concern was felt in the force about Det McMahon, who had been rendered unstable by drink, but no one felt able to do anything about him and he even continued to carry his official firearm.