Gilligan faces ‘real threat to life, but won’t flee’, court told
GANG boss John Gilligan, who is accused of money laundering offences, is facing a “real and immediate” threat to his life, the High Court in the North has heard.
Lawyers for Dublin criminal Gilligan also insisted he has no intention of fleeing the country because of his ongoing involvement in litigation over a “vast property portfolio”.
Further details emerged as the 66-year-old’s latest attempt to secure bail was adjourned yesterday.
Gilligan, of Greenforth Crescent, Dublin, was arrested at Belfast International Airport on August 23 as he was about to board a flight to Alicante in Spain.
The UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) said officers recovered around €23,000 from his luggage.
He faces a charge of attempting to remove criminal property.
Prosecutors previously opposed his release by claiming he had “sold up” and was leaving Ireland behind for a new life in Spain.
All the cash in his suitcase was said to have come from family, friends and the sale of belongings.
One man had allegedly bought a watch from him for €5,000, the court heard previously.
However, Gilligan’s legal team has insisted he only intended to rent a property in Spain for a limited period of time.
With bail refused last month due to concerns the accused could abscond, Gilligan returned to the High Court in a bid to establish a change of circumstances.
Opening the application, defence barrister Plunkett Nugent stressed the need to keep any subsequent living arrangements undisclosed due to a threat to Gilligan’s life.
“It’s common case there’s a very real and immediate threat to the defendant’s life,” Mr Nugent said.
Mr Nugent argued that newly available documents showed his client fully complied with bail terms in a separate case from the 1980s.
“The defendant is involved in very, very major legal proceedings in relation to a vast property portfolio in the neighbouring jurisdiction of the Republic of Ireland,” the barrister told the court.
“Far from any notion of fleeing, he intends to pursue this to the nth degree.”
Questioning whether the necessary change of circumstances had been demonstrated, Mr Justice Donnell Deeny also cited the normal period of three months before fresh applications are mounted. However, the judge decided to adjourn the legal bid so that the original judge can make a new determination on a later date.