By Louise Doyle

louise@inishtimes.com

THE former Buncrana Garda superintendent who worked on the case of wrongly convicted Inishowen publican Pat Shortt has broken his silence over his part of the investigation.

Kevin Lennon was removed from the force following the case which saw the Quigley’s Point businessman imprisoned for seven years.

His comments came following the broadcast of the second part of an RTÉ programme on the framing of Frank Shortt which aired last week.

The in-depth programme highlighted the plight faced by Mr Shortt following his 15-year battle to clear his name following his conviction of selling drugs on his premises in Quigley’s Point.

Mr Shortt was aware that drugs were being sold on his premises. 

However, he always maintained that he knew of and agreed that undercover gardaí could come into the pub and deal with the issue.

In a Sunday newspaper interview last week Mr Lennon described the documentary as “an act of bias, lacking impartiality and was inaccurate and opinionated”.

He said: “It was character assassination by misuse of taxpayers licence fees.

“I had been approached by Ms Susan O’Keefe (director of the two-part drama on the story of Frank Shortt) to participate in the programme and gave her a two hour consultation on the truth of the issues.

“I undertook to give a live interview on a conditional basis of balance,” he said.

Now set to embark on his own crusade to establish his innocence, Mr Lennon said: “I will be fighting for justice.

“It’s about time the whole truth came out, no matter how unpalatable it might be for some.”