Drugs convict points finger at Ward in court

Mr Paul Ward sat staring straight ahead with his foot on a ledge in front of him as Charles Bowden, his alleged former criminal associate, pointed at him with a steady hand yesterday.

"Yes he's in the dock," Bowden said when he was asked to identify the man he described as a member of an organised crime gang alleged to have sold up to 500 kilos of cannabis resin a week.

Bowden - the first criminal to give evidence under the State's new Witness Protection Programme - was giving evidence on the 18th day of the trial of Paul "Hippo" Ward (34), of Walkinstown Road, Dublin, who has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Veronica Guerin in June 1996. Wearing a charcoal-grey suit, purple shirt and purple check tie, Bowden made straight for the witness box when he was brought into the Special Criminal Court under heavy security, shortly after 11.15 a.m.

Someone tugged the back of his jacket to bring him back to a seat in the court to wait until he was called. Bowden's appearance was marked by intense security, with armed members of the Garda Emergency Response Unit and the Defence Forces Rangers unit on roofs and streets around the Green Street courthouse.

In October 1997, Bowden was sentenced to six years after pleading guilty to nine drugs and weapons charges.

Mr Justice Barr granted an order requested by counsel for the State banning court sketchers from drawing Bowden to protect his identity.

For more than four and a half hours, Bowden gave his evidence in a strong, calm voice. The court heard that he was a former soldier who was court-martialled for beating up seven recruits.

He admitted under cross-examination that he had attempted to "get them to lie to get me off".

He had worked as a bouncer and distributed ecstasy on the job before becoming a full-time member of the gang. A prize-winning marksman, he had used his military expertise to prepare the gun used to shoot Ms Guerin, he said. Asked if he was proud of his knowledge of guns he said: "Yes I was good with them. I was. I won competitions."

Bowden said he cleaned the .357 Magnum, loaded it with six rounds and left it on a table in a lock-up used by the gang with six other rounds of ammunition beside it.

He said Ms Guerin was discussed at the gang's regular Friday night meetings, during which Ward was present. One member had brought up the subject of Veronica Guerin and an assault case involving the leader of the gang.

The leader "was upset about this and he was going to have something done about it". In another conversation in a car, Bowden was asked by the gang member if he knew where the Magnum was.

A further conversation centred on Ms Guerin's court appearance in Kildare and whether she would have a Garda escort.

After the murder, Ward told Bowden that one of the killers had left the murder weapon in Ward's house, Bowden said. "He was pissed off that he had done this and he had to get rid of it. So he jumped on a bus. He said he was scared s...less." The court heard that Bowden left the Army in 1989 and worked as a bouncer after separating from his wife and children. He earned £150 a week as a bouncer and also claimed the dole.

He started distributing ecstasy for a drug dealer while he was working as a bouncer and stored thousands of ecstasy tablets in a flat above the Hogan Stand pub in Dublin. He was paid £500 for each consignment. Then he started delivering cannabis, earning £50 a kilo, making up to £1,250 a week.