MR John Gilligan, who is held in Britain under drugs trafficking laws, said he could arrange to have a British Customs officer shot, a court heard yesterday.
Mr Gilligan, described in court as "the self-confessed prime suspect" in the murder of the journalist Veronica Guerin, said that "its not a problem for me to get someone to shoot him", the court was told.
Belmarsh Magistrates' Court in London also heard that the rent on a warehouse in Harold's Cross, Dublin, where 50 kilos of cannabis and cocaine was found, was paid by Mr Gilligan.
Mr Gilligan, being held under the Drugs Trafficking Act, 1994, was denied bail and remanded in custody for a further three weeks.
In refusing bail, the magistrate, Mr Michael Gray, said that he agreed there was some doubt whether Mr Gilligan would surrender himself to the court for trial since he was a man with no residence or community links in Britain. He also agreed with the contention that Mr Gilligan was capable of organising interference with witnesses in the British Customs and Excise investigation into the case.
Mr Shane Colleary, for the Crown, began his objection to the application for bail outlining the circumstances of Mr Gilligan's arrest by Customs and Excise officers at Heathrow airport on October 6th this year. At the time of his arrest, he said, Customs and Excise were aware that Mr Gilligan had travelled on a KLM flight to Amsterdam on the previous day, and returned to London "by a different route".
The next day they were alerted to Mr Gilligan's presence at Heathrow for the second time when he attempted to board another flight for Amsterdam. When Mr Gilligan's suitcase was searched by Customs and Excise at Heathrow they found two shirts and two layers of bubble wrap, underneath which was a silver camera case containing approximately £300,000. The amount was made up of currency in Northern Irish pounds, Irish pounds and a "small amount" in sterling pounds.
Mr Colleary told the court that Mr Gilligan had described himself as the self-confessed prime suspect in the murder of Ms Guerin, at which point Mr Gilligan's representative, Mr Richard Ferguson QC, said that since his client had not been charged with any offence relating to Ms Guerin, it has nothing to do with this court".
Mr Colleary said the Criminal Assets Bureau in Dublin had indicated that they would give "their full support" to the Customs and Excise investigation concerning Mr Gilligan.
Further opposition was put forward by Mr Colleary when he outlined an Irish Customs raid on a warehouse in Harold's Cross, Dublin, in which 50 kilos of cocaine and cannabis were found. It had become clear from further investigations, he said, that Mr Gilligan was paying the rent on the warehouse and it was, therefore, "controlled by him".
Mr Gilligan, he said, had been residing for long periods in Amsterdam and "has large sums of money at his disposal with no particular reason to stay in Britain".
Mr Colleary then told the court that Mr Gilligan lived in "six or seven properties in Ireland, all owned in the names of members of his family, including his wife", but that there was only one property registered in his name in Ireland. The house, at Blanchardstown, Dublin, had been visited by the Garda recently, but they had found "no cooking utensils, no clothes or linen on the beds and no toiletries in the bathroom". Neighbours of Mr Gilligan told the gardai that no one had lived in the property "for some time".
During the hearing Mr Colleary referred to a telephone conversation in December 1994 between Mr Gilligan and Mr Dave Winkle, a senior Customs and Excise officer which, he said, made clear that he was capable of organising "interference into the Customs and Excise investigation into this matter" before the court.
The conversation followed the detention in December 1994 of Mr Dennis Laraissey at Holyhead port by Customs and Excise. Mr Laraissey was found with £76,000 in Irish pounds wrapped up in Christmas presents. Mr Laraissey told the officers that he was travelling to the Dutch-Belgian border to hand over the presents to a man named Martin.
Some 12 hours later, the court heard, Mr Gilligan telephoned Holyhead customs claiming that the money belonged to him and was due to be invested in property in Ireland. The court was told that Mr Gilligan said he was a professional gambler and then travelled to Holyhead producing bookmaker's cheques "for significant sums of money".
Mr Colleary added that the same documents were produced as evidence of Mr Gilligan's occupation to Customs and Excise officers when he was arrested at Heathrow in October. By now, he said, "these documents were already two years out of date".
During his initial conversation with Mr Winkle, the court was told, Mr Gilligan referred to another officer, Mr Roger Wilson, saying: "He's backed me into a corner.. . it's not a problem for me to get someone to shoot him ... I'm not going down that road, I just want me money back." Later in the conversation Mr Gilligan said: "If someone messes with my family, I'll have them fucking shot. However, it was pointed out by Mr Ferguson that Mr Gilligan has not faced charges relating to the incident and the £78,000 was returned to him.
In his application for bail Mr Ferguson described Mr Gilligan as a man who deals with large sums of cash as a cattle-dealer and others of that ilk and that it was a "pious hope" on the part of Customs and Excise that the Irish authorities would deliver evidence "on other matters". "It is grossly unjust to keep a man locked up in custody while Customs and Excise ferry between England, and Ireland crying to sustain evidence," he said.
Mr Gilligan had co-operated with Customs and Excise at Heathrow and "made no attempt to conceal his identity or appearance". He told them about the money and made no attempt to deceive the authorities." In addition, he told the court that Mr Gilligan had not faced charges relating to the 1994 conversation with customs officials, but said in his defence that he was "a man who expresses himself brusquely with crude, direct language and who is prone to exaggeration about what he can do and cannot do".
It was accepted by Mr Ferguson that the question over Mr Gilligan's residence was "a complicated matter". He said that presiding in the Irish Republic was "not conducive to a normal lifestyle" while his address in Dublin, was known to the media. He had previously lived in Blanchardstown, Mr Ferguson said, but had now "gone up-market" though he still retained his house in Co Dublin.
In concluding his application for bail, Mr Ferguson argued that Customs and Excise had "no evidence" against Mr Gilligan and he suggested that "they get their house in order and get some evidence before we get to court". What was before the court was "purely conjecture, surmise and innuendo", he said. "This is a man who deals with comparatively large sums of money."
Mr Gilligan was remanded in custody at Belmarsh Prison, London, until November 14th.