Person of interest in Defence Forces underwear investigation admitted masturbating in TK Maxx

A “person of interest” in the investigation into the defiling of underwear of two female navy recruits received an adult caution after he admitted to masturbating in TK Maxx, the Defence Forces tribunal was told.

Two female navy recruits at Haulbowline Naval Base barricaded their bedroom door at night and padlocked their drawers after an unidentified male colleague broke into their training barracks and ejaculated on their underwear.

All three persons of interest in the investigation were later found not to be a DNA match for the semen left on the underwear. The resulting military police investigation did not find the perpetrator.

Commander Grace Fanning, who took over as supervisor for the investigation five months later in February 2012, was questioned by Aedan McGovern, counsel for the tribunal, as to whether the three persons of interest were actually the same person.

The persons of interest were someone the victim had pointed to, a colleague recorded as having access to a master keycard during the period, and the colleague cautioned by gardaí, the tribunal heard.

Fanning said these were “three separate people”. All three were swabbed and their DNA was not a match for the sample taken from the underwear of the unnamed female recruit.

One of three people of interest in the investigation had come to the attention of An Garda Síochána on three occasions in the 13 years leading up to the incident, including receiving an adult caution for a public order offence where he later admitted to masturbating in TK Maxx.

A confidential internal Defence Forces document shown to the tribunal – based on Garda records – detailed that the individual had indecently exposed himself in the lingerie section of Dunnes Stores.

He was also involved in what he said was trespassing, but gardaí suspected had involved watching a “girl” in the bath.

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Fanning initially said statements from these three individuals were taken by military police, but later said she could not remember if there was “anything formally written down”.

Judge Ann Power, the sole member of the Defence Forces tribunal, earlier queried a former senior military officer over his recollection of the investigation into who “interfered” with underwear of two female recruits.

Kieran Lynch, a senior military policeman who oversaw the investigation into the incident, told the tribunal he could “not recall” many details of the investigation.

He also said he would not speculate whether the intruder was a male, when asked if it necessarily followed it was a man due to the presence of semen on the garments.

He said it was not classified as a security breach as military police could only “speculate” what the substance was at the outset.

The tribunal is attempting to determine whether investigations into instances of abuse in the Defence Forces were carried out effectively and if the processes were fit for purpose.

On Thursday, John Leahy, former acting Chief Petty Officer of the Naval Service, told the tribunal he discovered a sign-out book and digital record for the use of a master key card giving access to the room after his investigation had concluded.

Fanning clarified on Friday that it was a more “tech-savvy” assistant investigator who had reviewed the digital record. “I don’t know why John does not recall that,” she said.