A woman who has made serious allegations against senior gardaí in Co Donegal has been told by the DPP she will not be prosecuted in relation to matters she has spoken about in statements, including the alleged moving of bomb-making materials, the Court of Criminal Appeal heard yesterday.
Ms Adrienne McGlinchey is also not to be prosecuted regarding matters about which she has been interviewed by the Carty Garda inquiry into allegations of corruption by gardaí in Co Donegal.
Ms McGlinchey, of Port Road, Letterkenny, was interviewed over 60 days by members of the Carty inquiry from June 1999 to summer 2000 but none of the interviews was recorded, Insp Hugh Coll of the Carty inquiry said.
Mr Justice Hardiman, presiding, said he had never heard of any person being interviewed over such an enormous length of time and asked why the interviews were not recorded.
Insp Coll said recording of interviews was not considered in any investigation at that stage. The judge said there had been statutory provision for recording of interviews with suspects for 18 years.
The court also heard that Supt Kevin Lennon and Det Garda Noel McMahon, both formerly attached to Buncrana Garda stations, had made statements and question-and-answer interviews in relation to the allegations made against them by Ms McGlinchey concerning the Point Inn nightclub at Quigley's Point, Inishowen. The DPP had directed that no prosecutions be taken against the two gardaí.
Mr Justice Hardiman said the court was only learning of these documents now when they should have been discovered. He directed they be produced to the court.
Insp Coll also said Ms McGlinchey had not told him that Mr McMahon had told her he and other gardaí had burned down the Point Inn.
Yesterday was the third day of the hearing of Mr Frank Shortt's application for a certificate declaring a miscarriage of justice in his case. Mr Shortt, of Redcastle, Inishowen, served a three-year prison sentence after he was convicted in 1995 of allowing the sale of drugs at his nightclub, the Point Inn. His conviction was quashed by the Court of Criminal Appeal in November 2000 on grounds of newly-discovered facts which rendered the conviction unsafe. The DPP neither opposed the quashing of the conviction nor sought a retrial.
In his evidence, Insp Coll said Ms McGlinchey was treated as a witness in the Carty investigation. She had signed seven statements after interviews extending over 60 days. There were also memorandums of interviews with her which she had not signed. One of the statements began on August 9th, 1999, and was not signed until March 23rd, 2000. It extended to 40 pages. Another interview,which began on March 22nd, was signed on March 23rd and ran to 26 pages. These interviews were both read to her on March 23rd, 2000, and she signed them.
He said Ms McGlinchey had discussed matters relating to the Point Inn but would not sign a statement regarding these. He said she was difficult to interview and would switch from one issue to another. She would also remain silent for long periods. He denied a claim by Ms McGlinchey that the gardaí interviewing her had adverted to things out of context.
He said her solicitor was aware she was being interviewed in his absence. He said she had said she did not want her solicitor to be called. A chief superintendent, after consultations with the DPP, had given her guarantees she would not be prosecuted and would not have to tender evidence. The guarantees were that she would not be prosecuted in relation to dealing with gardaí involving fertiliser and icing sugar.
He said Ms McGlinchey was regarded as a witness and was free to come and go as she pleased. He agreed some of the interviews went on for long periods and that not all of what she said was noted.
Mr Justice Hardiman said it was difficult to understand that she was being treated as a witness when she had ended up being cautioned on one occasion.
Insp Coll said she was cautioned by him only in relation to one statement and that was because he believed she was making a false allegation that she had been taken by gardaí against her will to a beach at Rathmullan, Co Donegal. One of the gardaí named had an alibi for the night in question.
He said gardaí were also not happy with a lot of the material in her statements and believed it was not correct. She was cautioned when she made certain allegations. He agreed she was cautioned despite having being given assurances against prosecution. He also agreed he had not informed her solicitor about the caution.
He denied the Carty team had encouraged Ms McGlinchey to be interviewed without her solicitor present. He said that during the interviews with gardaí, Ms McGlinchey was discovered trying to smash the windscreen of her own car. He said another woman had made a statement saying that woman had been approached by a person with a gun who had said they had a message for Ms McGlinchey, that if she talked, this would be put into her mouth.
The woman had later withdrawn the statement and had alleged Ms McGlinchey had put her up to it.
Earlier yesterday, Mr Edward Comyn SC, for the DPP, said he had assurances from the Director that there would be no prosecution of Ms McGlinchey in relation to matters she had spoken about in her evidence or in relation to her interviews with the Carty team.
The hearing continues today.
