The Special Criminal Court is expected to give its verdict next week in the trial of Mr John Gilligan, the alleged drugs gang leader accused of the murder of journalist Ms Veronica Guerin.
Defence submissions in the trial concluded yesterday and Mr Justice Diarmuid O'Donovan, presiding, said the court would have to take some time to consider every aspect of the case. It hoped to be able to give its verdict next Thursday.
The judge said it was possible the court would not have reached a conclusion by then. The court remanded Mr Gilligan in custody and Mr Gilligan said "Thank you very much" before being led from the dock.
John Gilligan (48), with addresses at Corduff Avenue, Blanchardstown, Dublin; Jessbrook Equestrian Centre, Mucklon, Enfield, Co Kildare; and HM Prison Belmarsh, London, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Sunday Independent crime reporter Ms Guerin (37) at Naas Road, Clondalkin, Dublin, on June 26th, 1996.
Mr Gilligan also denies 15 other counts alleging the importation of cannabis and firearms and ammunition offences. The prosecution has claimed that Mr Gilligan was the leader of a drugs gang and played a leading part in a pre-arranged plan to shoot Ms Guerin.
Prosecuting counsel Mr Eamonn Leahy SC, in his closing submission, said it was not the prosecution contention that Mr Gilligan was present at the Naas Road when Ms Guerin was shot dead by the pillion passenger on a motorbike who fired six bullets from a .357 Magnum into her body.
The court has heard Mr Gilligan left Dublin airport for Amsterdam the day before the murder. But Mr Leahy said it was the prosecution contention that Mr Gilligan played a leading part in a pre-arranged plan to shoot Ms Guerin and was therefore complicit in the murder and guilty in law.
The prosecution claimed that Mr Gilligan was the leader of a gang that imported hundreds of kilograms of cannabis into the country and that Ms Guerin was shot because an assault case she was taking against Mr Gilligan threatened to disrupt the drugs business.
During the 43-day trial the court heard evidence from almost 200 witnesses, including three men currently in the witness-protection programme: John Dunne, Charles Bowden and Russell Warren. All three are currently serving prison sentences in Arbour Hill prison.
Warren said Mr Gilligan told him to go to Naas and follow Ms Guerin when she left Naas courthouse on the day she was murdered.
Warren said he spoke to Mr Gilligan minutes after witnessing the murder. He said: "I told him they were after shooting somebody. He said: Are they gone, did they get away?"
During four days of defence submissions Mr Gilligan's counsel, Mr Michael O'Higgins SC, said it would be unsafe to convict Mr Gilligan because the evidence of Warren and Bowden was "inherently unreliable".
Mr Gilligan is the third man to stand trial for the murder of Ms Guerin. Brian Meehan, the driver of the motorbike on the day of the murder, was jailed for life in July 1999 and Paul Ward was jailed for life in November 1998.