A solicitor has told the Special Criminal Court that Mr John Gilligan was confident about winning an assault case taken against him by the journalist Ms Veronica Guerin when he spoke to him the day before she was murdered. Mr Michael Hanahoe, who represented Mr Gilligan in the assault case, told the court he drove Mr Gilligan to Dublin Airport the day before the journalist's murder. Asked by Mr Gilligan's counsel, Mr Terence McDonald QC, if his client was "extremely confident" he could win the case being taken against him by the journalist, Mr Hanahoe replied: "I had advised him in relation to it and we were happy with our position on it."
Mr Hanahoe added: "It was a contested case." The Dublin solicitor said that he represented Mr Gilligan at Kilcock District Court on June 25th, 1996.
He said that after the hearing Mr Gilligan asked him to drive him to his equestrian centre at Jessbrook to inspect the site of the alleged assault.
After they inspected the site, Mr Hanahoe said, he volunteered to drive Mr Gilligan to the airport. Cross-examined by Mr McDonald, Mr Hanahoe said he could not recollect Mr Gilligan speaking to any garda that day or if there was any forensic evidence in the assault case. Mr Brian Price, a Naas solicitor, told the court he represented Ms Guerin at Naas District Court on the day of her murder. He told her he had shown the gardai the documents relating to her case and they were in order.
Mr Price said her case was dealt with before 12.30 p.m. and he went outside to return documents to her.
Mr Price said Ms Guerin left the court almost immediately and shook his hand. "She turned and waved at me on the way out," he added. It was the 25th day of the trial of Mr John Gilligan (48), who has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Sunday Independent crime reporter Veronica Guerin (37) at Naas Road on June 26th, 1996. The trial continues today.