Detectives are strongly advised during training not to bring their handguns into situations where they could lose control of the weapon or be overpowered, a Donegal Garda sergeant told the Morris tribunal yesterday.
Sgt Michael Carroll said there was no specific policy against bringing a firearm into an interview room while questioning prisoners, but there was "a general recommendation, don't bring it into a situation where you may be overpowered".
The sergeant was being asked about an allegation by Mark McConnell that Det Garda Matt Tolan produced a handgun and put it on a table during questioning of Mr McConnell while he was held in October 1998.
Mr McConnell was arrested after petty criminal Bernard Conlon identified him as one of two men he alleged had threatened him with a silver bullet at his home in Sligo town in July 1998. Mr Conlon later admitted the allegation was false.
Sgt Carroll told the inquiry: "It didn't happen. A gun wasn't put on the table in my presence."
The sergeant said he "struggled" during difficult interviews with Mr McConnell, but added: "Knowing what I know now, I don't blame the man for what he was saying to me."
His own firearm was placed in a secure strongroom before he questioned Mr McConnell.
Sligo detectives Insp Gerard Connolly and Garda Michael Reynolds, who interviewed Mr McConnell during the same arrest, told the inquiry that Mr McConnell's leg was not pushed off a chair or table while he was questioned, as the Raphoe musician alleged.
In a letter of complaint to the Garda Complaints Board after his release, Mr McConnell said Det Garda Reynolds "went so far as to throw my leg off a chair". Mr McConnell's leg was broken earlier in the year in an assault.
Insp Connolly said: "He was very awkward to interview and I possibly thought that was a follow on from it, maybe a bit cocky, with his leg up on the chair.
"He was told by Garda Reynolds to take his leg off the chair and he removed it . . . Garda Reynolds did not knock Mark's leg off a chair," he added.
Det Garda Reynolds said he did ask Mr McConnell to take his leg down. "He muttered and reluctantly did take it down. It was either on the desk or on the table because it was right in my face."