State solicitor ‘pressured’ to persuade DPP that charge was appropriate
The meeting was hosted by Dermot Dwyer, now a retired chief superintendent, and the main speaker was Detective Chief Supt Sean Camon, since deceased, while Det Sgt Liam Hogan, also deceased, was also there. He was not sure if Martin McQuinn, who may have been an Assistant Commissioner, was there. It was suggested certain pressure should be brought to bear, to persuade the DPP, a charge would be appropriate, he said.
On leaving the room, he was spoken to by Det Supt Camon and he believed Dermot Dwyer was also present, he said.
He said Supt Camon said he understood he, Mr Boohig, had been in college with the then minister for justice John O’Donoghue, and asked Mr Boohig to contact the minister with a view to getting him to get the DPP to prefer a charge.
Mr Boohig said he had said there was no way he would do that, it was totally inappropriate.
He told the DPP, Mr Barnes, about the approach, and also told Robert Sheehan, the legal professional officer in the DPP’s office dealing with the du Plantier file. He prepared a memo about the Bandon incident around 2006 at the request of James Hamilton, then DPP.
At the outset of the case yesteray Mr Justice John Hedigan told the jury the evidence from Mr Bailey’s side is coming close to an end.
He told the jury all cases are important but this was “one of the most important” he has dealt with
and there are “huge issues at stake” and the case “could scarcely be of greater importance”.
