Mark McConnell, one of the men wrongly arrested for murder during the botched Garda investigation into the death of Raphoe cattle dealer Richie Barron a decade ago, told the Morris tribunal that he was assaulted verbally and physically in Garda custody and was shown a purported confession supposedly made by Frank McBrearty jnr while under arrest for the murder of Mr Barron.
Mr McConnell (35) and several others were arrested a decade ago during the investigation following the death of Mr Barron, which the tribunal has found was the result of a hit-and-run collision.
Mr McConnell said that during his final interview on December 4th, 1996, Insp John McGinley entered carrying a document. He said he knew by looking at the document that it did not contain his cousin's signature.
"Insp McGinley read out the whole statement," he said. Mr McConnell said the purported statement began "I Frank McBrearty jnr am showing remorse". The statement was four or more pages long, he said. "The minute that line was said to me, I knew right away there was something fishy about that document," he said.
Mr McConnell said that when Insp McGinley finished reading the document, he was asked what he thought of it by the inspector.
"I told him in no uncertain terms what I thought of it," Mr McConnell said. "I told him he would be far better relieving himself in the toilet and wiping his behind with it."
Mr McConnell said that when he met his wife after he was released, she was "in a trance", and his cousin Frank McBrearty jnr was "in a terrible state". He also said that he was kicked in the shins, poked in the eye, struck in the ribs and shown graphic postmortem photographs by Det Garda Patrick Tague.
Mr McConnell said there was a "striking similarity" in the statements from gardaí against whom he made allegations. The gardaí deny the allegations.
He also told the tribunal that during his first interview after his arrest on December 4th, 1996, he was abused verbally, called "a fat murdering bastard", and pushed around an interview room by Det Garda Michael O'Malley and now retired Det Sgt James Leheny.