Gilligan trial date set if extradition fails
By Rachel Donnelly

The trial in Britain of Mr John Gilligan on charges of drugsmuggling and
moneylaundering will go ahead next year if the British courts refuse his
extradition to Ireland, a London judge was told yesterday.

Mr Gilligan was told on Tuesday that the British authorities support the
extradition order, which includes a charge of murdering journalist Veronica
Guerin. He was arrested at Heathrow Airport in October 1996 and is accused
of having more than £300,000 concealed in a suitcase.

At a hearing yesterday in Woolwich Crown Court Mr Nigel Peters QC, for the
prosecution, asked for an adjournment of the proceedings against Mr
Gilligan in relation to drugsmuggling and moneylaundering charges because
the Irish authorities had begun the extradition process.

Describing the case as "exceptional", Mr Peters said it would be "perfectly
proper" to adjourn "these serious charges" and extend the custody time
limits because Mr Gilligan still had to decide if he would appeal against
an extradition order.

Mr Gilligan has less than 15 days to appeal to the High Court for a
judicial review or a writ of habeas corpus.

"If he succeeds in his application to the High Court, Customs and Excise
wish to proceed with this case. If he is returned to Ireland we would seek
a nolle prose qui ruling on these charges from the Attorney General," Mr
Peters added.

There would be no prejudice against Mr Gilligan if the trial was further
adjourned, he argued.

Opposing the applications Mr Gilligan's counsel, Ms Clare Montgomery QC,
charged the prosecution with "paying no regard to the law".

The prosecution had made a "deliberate and positive" decision to use the
charges against Mr Gilligan as an "insurance policy" should the extradition
proceedings fail. The custody time limits had lapsed, Ms Montgomery said,
and at "every stage" the prosecution had "dragged their feet to spin out
their case".

Mr Gilligan "wishes to be tried but the prosecution does not want to try
him," she added.

The judge, Mr Justice Rucker, retired from the court for 40 minutes. When
he returned he said he felt there was "no question" of bad faith on the
part of the prosecution and the case would take "a back seat" while Mr
Gilligan's fate was "largely governed by the extradition proceedings".

Furthermore, because of the Garda belief that it had evidence of
drugsmuggling by Mr Gilligan in Ireland, and of the "serious allegation"
that he took part in the murder of Ms Guerin, he would be in custody "for a
very, very long time".

Ms Montgomery then appealed to the judge to set a date for Mr Gilligan's
trial.

Mr Peters pointed out that a date would be difficult to set since an appeal
against Mr Gilligan's extradition was unlikely to be heard in the High
Court before the end of the year.

Mr Justice Rucker agreed to set a trial date for January 2nd, 1998, and
extended custody until that date.