Protected witness Russell Warren told the Special Criminal Court today that he stopped his van and got sick at the side of the road shortly after he witnessed the murder of journalist Veronica Guerin.
Warren denied a suggestion by Mr Terence Mc Donald QC, counsel for murder accused Mr John Gilligan, that his account of witnessing the murder was "a complete fabrication, a total lie and out and out lies."
He said that he rang Mr Gilligan a couple of minutes after witnessing the murder and told him that "somebody's after being shot."
"He said are they dead and I said I suppose so, they were shot five times. He said did they get away, I said yes, they drove off. He said tell your friend that the same thing will happen to him if anyone says anything about the bike."
Warren said that he then headed for Tallaght and on the way he got physically sick at the side of the M50.
In reply to Mr Justice Diarmuid O'Donovan, presiding, Warren said that his best recollection was that he rang Mr Gilligan from Monastery Road in Clondalkin after witnessing the murder.
Cross examined by Mr McDonald, Warren said that he drove through Clondalkin after witnessing the murder but could not be sure of the exact position from where he rang Gilligan.
He denied a suggestion by counsel that he was not on the Naas Road and could not give exact details of where he made the phone call because he had not been there on the day of the murder.
He also told Mr McDonald that sometime between 2.00 p.m. and 6.00 p.m. on the day of the murder he rang Brian Meehan to tell him to get rid of the bike and Meehan said: "It's done."
Warren said that while in garda custody he had been taken to meet a friend in whose garage he had stored the bike used in the murder. He said the gardaí allowed him to talk to the friend while they waited in a car behind and he remained handcuffed to the car door.
He said he told the friend that he was going to have to tell the gardaí the truth and implicate him in the motorbike.
Earlier today Warren told the Court that Mr Gilligan told him to go to Naas on the day that Veronica Guerin was murdered.
But Warren admitted under cross examination by Mr Gilligan's counsel Mr Terence McDonald QC that he did not mention this in a statement he made to gardaí three months after the murder.
Warren said: "I was giving the gardaí dribs and drabs of information, some possibly lies and some truth."
Warren agreed that his alleged conversations with Mr Gilligan on the day of the murder were "highly significant."
He admitted to Mr McDonald that a lengthy statement he made to gardaí on October 19th, 1996 contained a number of lies and that the statement did not mention that Mr Gilligan told him to go to Naas on the day of the murder.
It was the sixteenth day of the trial of Mr John Gilligan (48), with addresses at Corduff Avenue, Blanchardstown, Dublin; Jessbrook Equestrian Centre, Mucklon, Enfield, Co Kildare; and HM Prison Belmarsh, London, who has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Veronica Guerin(37) at Naas Road, Clondalkin, Dublin on June 26th, 1996.
Mr Gilligan also denies fifteen other counts alleging the importation of cannabis and firearms and ammunition offences.
The prosecution has claimed that Mr Gilligan was "in control and command" of a criminal gang that imported and distributed large amounts of cannabis and that he organised the murder of Ms Guerin.
The trial continues tomorrow.