A journalist told the Special Criminal Court today he had a bizarre conversation with murder accused Mr John Gilligan a month after the murder of Veronica Guerin.
Sunday Worldcrime correspondent Mr Paul Williams said he received a call on his mobile phone on July 24th 1996 from Mr Gilligan.
Asked by Mr Justice Diarmuid O'Donovan, presiding, what conversation he had with Mr Gilligan, Mr Williams replied: "In my lifetime and my career as a journalist it was one of the most bizarre conversations I ever had with anybody."
Mr Williams told the court he contacted Mr Gilligan's wife Geraldine after the Guerin murder and was given a mobile phone number to ring. On June 28th, two days after the murder, he said he rang the mobile number and asked for John Gilligan and the man who answered the phone said he was John Gilligan.
Mr Williams said he had a conversation which lasted 45 to 50 minutes with Mr Gilligan and he said he thought he gave Mr Gilligan a number to contact him at. On July 24th 1996 he said he received a call from the same person he had spoken to on June 28th. He told prosecuting counsel Mr Tom O'Connell SC that the voice was the same.
Cross examined by Mr Gilligan's counsel, Mr Terence McDonald QC, Mr Williams said he has been a journalist for 15 years. He told the court he had written an article about a potential witness in the trial while knowing that he himself was going to be a witness in the trial.
Mr Williams said senior counsel analysed every article that appeared in the Sunday Worldfor possible libel or contempt of court. The trial is continuing.
