15 July 2004. Thanks to D. This lengthy and detailed report is highly informative on Gardai procedures, management, investigation, informers and what can go wrong with law enforcement.

Excerpted from:

REPORT OF THE TRIBUNAL OF INQUIRY

Set up Pursuant to the Tribunal of Inquiry (Evidence) Acts 1921-2002
into Certain Gardaí in the Donegal Division

Report on Explosives "Finds" in Donegal

15th July 2004

544 pages

http://www.morristribunal.ie/asp/display_one.asp?ObjectID=310&Mode=0&RecordID=113

[Pages 521-25.]

Rossnowlagh, 18th of July 1994

14.80. There are two different caches of homemade explosives involved in this find: one in a derelict house and the other in a farmer’s shed, both in the Rossnowlagh area. This is to the south west of Donegal town. This is another occasion on which it is said by Superintendent Lennon and Detective Garda McMahon that the information of Ms. McGlinchey enabled them to make these finds. For her part, Ms. McGlinchey says that she, Detective Inspector Lennon and Detective Garda McMahon actually placed the finds in position. The Tribunal repeats that the only value of this account is that it identifies an area into which the Tribunal must enquire. The Tribunal has heard the evidence of Detective Garda McMahon and Superintendent Lennon and the Tribunal is satisfied that the accounts given by these two officers are so contradictory and unbelievable that the Tribunal is forced to the conclusion that they are a tissue of lies. From all of the evidence, it is also forced to the conclusion that these two officers had a significant involvement in preparing and placing these two caches of explosives.

14.81. The Tribunal wishes to emphasise that it is satisfied that Ms. McGlinchey’s evidence could not, on its own, form the basis of a positive finding adverse to either Superintendent Lennon, Detective Garda McMahon, Garda management or any other Garda. The Tribunal has been much guided by circumstantial evidence on all of the matters detailed in the report.

14.82. The account given by Detective Garda McMahon is that on the evening of the 18th of July 1994, Ms. McGlinchey informed him of a cache of homemade explosives in the Rossnowlagh area. Immediately on learning of this, he said that he contacted Detective Inspector Lennon and, at once, the three set off for Rossnowlagh. On the way down, Detective Garda McMahon says that Ms. McGlinchey gave them further information about the use which the ‘Provisional IRA’ had intended for the homemade explosives. She said that they proposed to load the material into a caravan and to tow it to a border checkpoint and explode it once the tow vehicle for the caravan had hydraulically detached the caravan and driven away. He said that she even identified the caravan on the side of the road on the way down to Rossnowlagh. The account of both officers was that they visited the two locations where the explosives were stored with Ms. McGlinchey, and later Detective Inspector Lennon informed Superintendent Duffy of the find and he later on took them out of commission.

14.83. This account, however, was totally contradicted by the fact that some time prior to this date, Detective Inspector Lennon had sent two reports to the Chief Superintendent in Letterkenny. These reports would indicate that Detective Inspector Lennon knew of this find long in advance of the 18th of July. These therefore contradict the suggestion that Ms. McGlinchey only imparted the information to Detective Garda McMahon that night.

14.84. The account that was given to the Tribunal by Detective Garda McMahon was one that he has consistently given whenever he has been questioned about this find. He gave it to the Carty inquiry, to the Tribunal investigators, and he also gave it in evidence to the Tribunal over a number of days. He returned to the witness stand one day to say that he had been unwell, tired and confused the previous afternoon and that he had made a mistake. He amended his evidence so as to dovetail with the report which had been sent in by Detective Inspector Lennon. This was done, the Tribunal is satisfied, in an effort to iron out the contradiction between them.

14.85. The Tribunal is prepared to accept that Detective Garda McMahon spent long hours in the witness stand, that he had been unwell and that he was under strain in giving his evidence. But, it can visualise no circumstances in which a fundamental alteration to his evidence should have been necessary and concludes that this alteration was made only for the purpose of fitting in with the account given by Superintendent Lennon. It rejects the revised evidence as false.

14.86. It is common case that Superintendent Lennon, Detective Garda McMahon and Ms. McGlinchey went to Rossnowlagh the evening previous to the find. Ms. McGlinchey says that they went there to put the homemade explosives in position. Superintendent Lennon and Detective Garda McMahon deny this. They say that they went there in order to identify the location of the find.

14.87. The Tribunal repeats the criticisms which it made in connection with bringing an informer to the location of a find in circumstances such as this but it adds an additional criticism on this occasion. It is common case that on the way back from Rossnowlagh, the group stopped in Donegal town for the purpose of buying refreshments. To the Tribunal, it is inconceivable that any Garda would treat an informer in this way. It is obviously calculated to expose them to the danger of identification and the Tribunal is satisfied that they cannot have regarded Ms. McGlinchey as a genuine informer to treat her in this way.

14.88. It is ironic that this was the find for which a Minister of State for Northern Ireland saw fit to compliment the Minister for Justice on the good work done by the Gardaí. The Tribunal has heard Superintendent Duffy’s evidence on this matter and considers it unreliable. His failure to use his position to make enquiries about this find, which was his job, constituted very serious neglect.

14.89. In actual fact, very little work was done by the Gardaí in relation to these finds. No statements were taken from any of the Gardaí on the search parties, nor from the owners of the property. This was all the more surprising because the owner of one of the properties actually approached the Gardaí and indicated that he had intended using the particular shed in the coming days for the storage of his hay. This should have alerted the Gardaí to the fact that it was a highly unlikely location for the ‘Provisional IRA’ to choose as a hide for their materials.

14.90. There was no forensic examination of the materials found. The materials were simply gathered up and brought back to the station. They were subsequently spread on the gardens belonging to Superintendent Duffy and another officer and also on some wasteland. There was no investigation file prepared in relation to this incident.

14.91. Yet again, Crime & Security Branch were not appraised of the true situation. They had received reports prior to the making of the finds from Detective Inspector Lennon. The Tribunal is satisfied that Detective Inspector Lennon was merely ‘preparing the ground’ for the subsequent discoveries which he was orchestrating at that time. However, once the finds were made, no debriefing report, C.77 report or report of any nature was sent up to Crime & Security Branch. This was a failing not only on the part of Superintendent Lennon and Detective Garda McMahon but also on the part of Detective Superintendent Fitzpatrick, who became aware of the find upon his return to the division later that month. He should have ensured that a proper and full debriefing report was sent up to Crime & Security Branch. They were entitled to be informed that this find had been made as a result of information supplied by a Garda informer. They were also entitled to know the names which had been subsequently supplied by the informer as to the persons who were responsible for placing the materials at the locations. Crime & Security Branch were never given this relevant information.

14.92. Chief Superintendent Fitzpatrick, on becoming aware of a major find of homemade explosives, failed to manage the Donegal division by checking on the perpetrators, their motivation and their future plans. In failing to follow up on the paperwork that should have been seen to by Superintendent Duffy, he fell down  on the role of supervision. In apparently accepting yet another ‘Adrienne McGlinchey story’ as a fact, he failed to use the enquiring mind that is the hallmark of good police work. This was negligence.

Afterword

14.93. The Tribunal is satisfied that this entire set of circumstances followed an evolutionary path. It started with a mischievous young woman, Adrienne McGlinchey, who was anxious to portray herself to the Gardaí as a useful informer on subversive matters. Why she set out on such a course, one does not know.

14.94. After a time in Buncrana, it should have been apparent to those looking closely at the situation that this young lady was not associated with any subversive organisation. Her actions were so atypical of those of a genuine subversive operative, that it must have been plain to those Gardaí closest to her that she could not possibly be a genuine informer. Instead of terminating the informer/handler relationship, Detective Garda McMahon and Detective Inspector Lennon saw an opportunity to harness this most unusual person for their own ends.

14.95. When exactly the manipulation of Ms. McGlinchey by these two Gardaí began is difficult to pinpoint. The Tribunal is of the opinion that it developed gradually over time, probably in a subtle manner. The Tribunal is however satisfied that by the time the finds began in earnest in September of 1993, Detective Garda McMahon and Detective Inspector Lennon had long since ceased to believe that Adrienne McGlinchey was an informer. By that time, they were intent on using her for their own ends. In the following eleven months Detective Inspector Lennon and Detective Garda McMahon set about orchestrating these finds. They were able to do so because Ms. McGlinchey was a completely willing participant in their activities. The Tribunal is satisfied that she enjoyed the attention and the excitement which their joint operations provided.

14.96. The scheme of deception could not have succeeded but for the negligent manner in which the Donegal division was being managed at the time. If even one event had been properly looked at by senior management, this hoax would have been uncovered. If Ms. McGlinchey had even been prosecuted in respect of one of the criminal offences that she committed from 1991 to 1994, she would have been stopped in her tracks. Detective Inspector Lennon and Detective Garda McMahon could operate in the confidence that their ‘successes’ would not be investigated. By keeping Crime & Security Branch in the dark, they further ensured that there would be no external analysis of the intelligence supposedly emanating from their informer.

14.97. The Tribunal has considered whether the wilful blindness on the part of senior management in Donegal division amounted to complicity in the overall scheme. However, on a careful consideration of the evidence presented, the Tribunal is of the opinion that it can only go so far as to make a finding of gross negligence, short of actual complicity, on the part of senior management in the division.

Could It Ever Happen Again?

14.98. The answer to that question is: If there is a lack of proper management at senior level, corruption at middle level and a lack of review throughout the force, then it is certainly possible that in similar circumstances similar corruption could arise. There is unlikely to be another Adrienne McGlinchey, but it is certain that as corruption in the form of deceit, the abuse of investigations through inventions against suspected criminals and bribery have arisen in other police forces, they will also occur within the Garda Síochána. What has been so serious about this inquiry has been the neglect of the fundamental duty of police management to ask questions and get answers. This is shocking. Whether An Garda Síochána has rectified the management deficiencies which enabled the corruption to flourish in this instance is not a matter upon which this Tribunal can give an opinion. It can merely report on facts and make recommendations.