Defence counsel for Mr John Gilligan, accused of the murder of journalist Veronica Guerin, told the Special Criminal Court yesterday the evidence against him "does not add up".
Mr Michael O'Higgins SC said: "You wouldn't hang the proverbial dog on it." Opening the closing defence submissions, Mr O'Higgins said he would be scrutinising the "nuts and bolts" of the evidence.
He would be raising the character and calibre of two protected witnesses, Russell Warren and Charles Bowden, who gave evidence for the State in the trial. Mr O'Higgins said serious questions had to be raised about the Garda investigation, and these impacted on how the case translated into evidence.
He was making the closing defence submissions on the 40th day of the trial of Mr John Gilligan. Mr Gilligan (48), with addresses at Corduff Avenue, Blanchardstown, Dublin; Jessbrook Equestrian Centre, Mucklon, Enfield, Co Kildare; and HM Prison Belmarsh, London, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Sunday Independ- ent crime reporter Ms Veronica Guerin (37), at Naas Road, Clondalkin, Dublin, on June 26th, 1996.
He also denies 15 counts alleging the importation of cannabis and firearms and ammunition offences.
Mr O'Higgins said the defence would say the gang which operated from a premises at the Greenmount industrial estate at Harold's Cross was "a self-contained autonomous unit" of five people which carried out its own business and was not "John Gilligan's cat's-paw" as alleged by the prosecution.
Counsel said there were serious questions about the Garda search at Greenmount.
He also said there was no corroboration in this case. The court had to decide if Russell Warren was credible, and if the answer was No that was the end of his testimony.
In his evidence, Warren had admitted cheating on his wife and his best friend by spending a night with another woman at a hotel in Bray. He was "despicable, in breach of trust and devious".
The gardai had made payments to Warren and Bowden that were "absolutely unprecedented". He submitted the gardai had "courted" Bowden and Warren.
Mr O'Higgins said Charles Bowden had joined the Army and was a crack shot, a qualified sniper and a black belt at karate, but his Army career had a downside in that he used his martial arts skill to beat up younger recruits and then suborned them not to give evidence.
On the day before the murder of Ms Guerin, Bowden sat in the Greenmount lock-up polishing bullets, opening the Magnum revolver, cleaning it with a cloth, "all his military expertise being brought to bear, and he did not give a thought for Veronica Guerin".
He said Bowden had schooled his then girlfriend and now wife, Ms Juliet Bacon, to provide him with an alibi for the day of the murder, but she was not up to the task.
"Charles Bowden's movements on the day of the murder are unaccounted for despite his very best efforts to do so," he said.
Mr O'Higgins will continue his submissions today.