Bowden lied to implicate Ward, counsel claims

State witness Charles Bowden was a "supergrass" and "vicious criminal" who told lies aimed at involving Paul Ward in the murder of journalist Veronica Guerin and at minimising his own involvement, the Court of Criminal Appeal was told yesterday.

Bowden's role in the murder, suggested Mr Barry White SC, for Ward, was to dispose of the murder gun which he admitted having cleaned and loaded before Ms Guerin was shot.

Bowden had given evidence to an earlier trial, of Patrick "Dutchy" Holland, that he loaded "dum-dum" bullets into the gun but told Ward's trial that they were concave bullets.

Bowden had admitted he was on Moore Street in Dublin on the afternoon of the murder with Brian Meehan (who is serving a life sentence for Ms Guerin's murder) and another man. Mr White suggested Bowden was there "to get rid of the gun" and added this was supported by the fact that Bowden had never given a credible explanation for his movments on the day of the murder.

Crucial to the finding by the Special Criminal Court that Ward was guilty of murder was its acceptance of Bowden's claim that Ward's role in the murder was to dispose of the gun and motorcycle used, Mr Paul McDermott SC, also for Ward, said.

Although the motorcycle was never found and Bowden had given no evidence in relation to it, the Special Criminal Court still found that Ward had disposed of it. This was a crucial error of fact.

Mr White said the court failed to give any or any proper weight to the lies and inconsistences in Bowden's evidence, even when Bowden was caught out in deliberate lies.

The court had erred in fact and in law in failing to treat Bowden as a "supergrass".

Bowden's testimony was so unreliable that no court would or should have convicted on it, counsel said. "He not only told lies when it suited him but did so to serve particular purposes and also, it appears, he lied from time to time for no apparent reason."

Bowden could not even tell the truth on relatively trivial matters, including how he got involved in the "Gilligan gang".

Yesterday was the second day of the appeal by Ward (37) against his conviction by the Special Criminal Court of the murder of Ms Guerin (36).

The appeal continues today.