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Frank Shortt set for book deal
02.04.07
Frank Shortt will
reveal details of his two-year jail ordeal and
events leading up to his wrongful conviction in a
new book that is close to completion.
It was eight days before Mr. Shortt, 72, learned of
his Supreme Court award of €4.7m damages, having
been on holiday in a remote part of Mexico with his
wife Sally. |
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And he has received a
further boost with a long-awaited apology from Garda
Commissioner Noel Conroy; a personal telephone call
from President Mary McAleese and news he has been
awarded his full legal costs for the Supreme Court
hearing. |
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Mr. Shortt, an
accountant by profession from Redcastle, spent 27
months in jail after he was wrongly convicted in
1995 of allowing the sale of drugs at his Point Inn
nightclub in Quigley's Point.
He said he was ‘delighted’ to have received a letter
of apology from the Garda Commissioner but said he
also wants an apology from the Taoiseach for his
ordeal. He also wants to see the DPP take
prosecutions against Supt. Kevin Lennon and Garda
Sergeant Noel McMahon for perjury. Nevertheless, he
felt sympathy for their families and said he would
not press for the prosecutions, he told the Irish
Times.
In his letter of apology, dated March 22nd, Mr.
Conroy “expresses (his) sincere sorrow and regret to
you and your family for the irresponsible actions of
some members of the Garda Siochana in failing to
adhere to the professional investigative standards
and procedures of the organisation that led to your
wrongful conviction”.
Mr. Shortt said, that while he had been fully
vindicated, there would always be a seed of
suspicion in the minds of some people who would
“always say there’s no smoke without a fire”.
Meanwhile, Mr. Shortt, who has five grown-up
children, said he would spend most of the damages on
his family although he and Sally also needed money
for their retirement.
He spent his time in prison in the 1990s writing a
book and said he has only one more chapter left to
write before it is published. |
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