Cllr Frank McBrearty
COUNTY Councillor Frank McBrearty Jnr has confirmed tonight that he has asked a special commission to investigate whether or not phone calls between him and his lawyers were illegally recorded by gardaí.
Mr McBrearty was given a €1.5m settlement from the State after being wrongly considered a murder suspect in the death of cattle dealer Richie Barron.
His legal team has told the Fennelly Commission that phone conversations with his lawyers were recorded by gardaí at the time.
In a letter to the commission, it is also alleged phone calls made by Mr McBrearty’s father, Frank Snr, and his cousin Mark McConnell to their lawyers were also recorded at Letterkenny Garda Station.
The Fennelly Commission was set up two years ago to investigate revelations that non-999 phone calls had been routinely recorded in certain garda stations over a 30-year period.
The commission has asked Cllr McBrearty to make a formal complaint.
The Morris Tribunal into garda corruption in Donegal was told of the alleged recording of phone calls between prisoners and their solicitors but investigating those claims were outside the remit of that inquiry.
“I am now hopeful that this will be fully investigated by the Fennelly Commission,” said Mr McBrearty tonight.
The Morris Tribunal found that gardaí had attempted to frame Cllr McBrearty and Mr McConnell for the murder of Mr Barron in October 1996.
Mr Barron was not murdered. He may have been the victim of a hit and run incident.
The case looks set to be re-opened with Mr Justice Niall Fennelly set to investigate if the McBrearty phone calls were made to solicitors were recorded.