The trial of suspended Detective Sergeant John White has heard how a double barrelled sawn-off shotgun was found in a Travellers camp in 1998.
Mr White is accused of planting the gun to justify the arrest of seven Travellers in a murder inquiry.
At Letterkenny Circuit Court, former Superintendent Kevin Lennon said John White came to his home close to midnight on 22 May 1998 seeking warrants to search the Travellers camp at Burnfoot the next morning.
Det. Sgt Niall Cody said the defendant asked him to join the search and that a pre-search briefing told a team of about 25 gardaí that the gun would not be found in a caravan but hidden nearby.
Det. Sgt Cody said he searched a caravan but found nothing significant, and then John White called to him to search the sheds nearby saying: 'You are always lucky'.
The court heard Det. Sgt Cody found a holdall hanging on the back of a large galvanised door lying against a shed near the caravans.
He said there were some coloured clothes on top of the bag. He lifted them off and looked in. 'There was a double barrelled shotgun looking right at me,' he told the court.
He added that a number of children came up to him and said: 'That gun or that bag was left there.' The detective said he chased the children away because of the danger.
The trial continues.
