Frank McBrearty jnr has told the Morris tribunal that he "tried suicide" because of severe depression following his arrest for the murder of cattle dealer Richie Barron a decade ago.
Mr McBrearty also said he suffered from panic attacks at the time, felt paranoid, and was admitted twice to psychiatric care because of his ordeal.
The tribunal has found that Mr McBrearty was completely innocent of any involvement in the death of Mr Barron, who died as a result of a hit-and-run collision.
"I've had a lot of problems with anxiety and depression - touch wood, I have no depression now," he said.
The Raphoe publican first outlined his allegations in a meeting with his solicitor James Sweeney after his release, and the following year in a videotaped interview with Billy Flynn, a private investigator hired by his family.
"I became paranoid at that time about everything," he said. "But in hindsight, I had a right to be paranoid." He said his health deteriorated badly "over a period of a year". He tried to fight the symptoms of depression on his own, then began binge drinking. He said he "had tried suicide", and at one stage was going to attack a garda, but his father stopped him, and had him admitted to psychiatric care.
Mr McBrearty said he pleaded during his arrest on December 4th, 1996 to be allowed take his children home, but was not allowed to do so. "There's a difference between argumentative and violent," he said.
He said gardaí portrayed him as "some sort of captain of the Mafiosa" and detectives tried to provoke him during his arrest.
Mr McBrearty alleged that a garda pushed him in the back with a closed fist in an attempt to provoke him, and that the same thing happened later at Letterkenny Garda station. He also said he was "poked and punched" on the way to the station, his children were told "your Daddy's a murderer", and he was told he was a murderer like his father.
The father of three said this was a reference to an incident in Scotland in the 1970s, when his father was acquitted of a manslaughter charge.
Mr McBrearty also said Det Garda Patrick Cafferkey pressed his knee to Mr McBrearty's chest in Letterkenny Garda station until another garda told him to stop, and that before he was brought to an interview room Insp John McGinley said, "Let him have it." He also said he was "tumbled off a chair", striking his head against a filing cabinet, by Det Garda John Fitzpatrick, who also pushed his head into post-mortem photographs while Det Sgt John Melody said "Look what you did." The two detectives were brought from the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation in Dublin to question Mr McBrearty.
"God definitely was inside me that day," he said. "It's a miracle I didn't hit Melody and Fitzpatrick." Mr McBrearty also alleged he was abused by two other Dublin detectives, Det Sgt Gerard McGrath and Det Sgt Éamon O'Grady.