A detective sergeant told Dublin Circuit Criminal Court he was "horrified" to learn that one of his officers was associating with a motor garage which was fronted and controlled by criminals. Det Sgt Seamus Costelloe told the jury: "I knew who was fronting Stackstown Motors and I knew who was behind it and they were all criminals. I was horrified that a detective was involved with these people."
He said that the accused in the case, Det Garda John Ryan, later made a false arrest of the owner of Stackstown Motors on the night of April 4th-5th, 1996. As a result, Det Sgt Costelloe told him by phone to remain in Rathfarnham station and not to use a Garda car but the accused replied: "If you want to `effen' well tell me these things, tell them to my face."
Det Garda Ryan (36) of Newtown Park, Blessington, Co Wicklow, has pleaded not guilty to obtaining £260 from Det Sgt Patrick Normile by falsely pretending that he owned a Nissan Micra motor engine on or about August 1994. The engine was part of a car which had been stolen in England and allegedly recovered by gardai in Stackstown Motors.
Det Sgt Costelloe told defence counsel Mr Erwin Mill-Arden SC that he warned the accused on numerous occasions to stop associating with the owner of Stackstown Motors. Each time it was mentioned he was assured that the association had stopped. Asked why he did not approve of the two men meeting, witness replied that said he felt that the garage owner was "leading Det Garda Ryan by the nose". Mr Mill-Arden showed Det Sgt Costelloe a letter he sent to a superintendent on October 25th, 1995 concerning a car theft ring. In the last paragraph, Det Sgt Costelloe wrote: "Our informant remains in place". Asked if this referred to the owner of Stackstown Motors, he replied that it may have but he couldn't recall.
Det Sgt Costelloe said that in March 1996, the owner of Stackstown Motors and his assistant, Mr Joe Murray, were arrested following a complaint from Ms Tara O'Byrne. She had bought a van from Stackstown Motors which was allegedly made up of stolen body parts.
Det Sgt Normile interviewed Mr Murray at this time and became concerned about the bona fides of the Nissan Micra engine he had purchased from the accused. Det Sgt Costelloe said that when he heard that he told Det Sgt Normile to investigate and took it upon himself to get a copy of the file on the stolen Micra car which the accused had sent to the Chief State Solicitor's office. Det Garda Ryan had told him that the DPP was not proceeding with the case but he later discovered that this was not the case.
Asked in continued cross-examination by Mr Mill-Arden why the accused was not informed of what was going on after Det Sgt Normile's interview with Mr Murray, Det Sgt Costelloe replied that there was just a "baseless or non-complaint" to go on.
The trial continues before Judge Dominic Lynch.