THE Sinn Fein councillor, Mr Christy Burke, applied to the Minister for Justice, Mrs Owen, for a licence to carry a gun for his own protection, the Circuit Civil Court was told yesterday.
Det Insp Anthony Fennessey told of the gun application during a £30,000 damages claim by Mr Burke against a former Special Branch detective sergeant, Mr Michael Hughes, and the State.
Mr Burke claims Mr Hughes negligently informed him of a British intelligence plot to murder him in a bid to (recruit him as an informer. He lived in fear of his life as a result.
Det Insp Fennessey told Judge Esmonde Smyth that Mr Burke had made a number of complaints to gardai about a danger to his life from criminal elements. He believed the Dublin city councillor would be nervous about his safety.
Mr Burke had told the court that on January 4th, 1993, Mr Hughes told him in his home at Cherrymount Crescent, Malahide Road, that his life was in grave danger because British intelligence believed he had organised the bombing of London in December 1992.
He tried to recruit him as an informer, and he (Mr Burke) had been so distressed he had to move his two sons out of his home into a friend's flat and sometimes stayed away from home himself. He became a bundle of nerves and had to have medical treatment.
Mr Hughes said an IRA contact had told him of the threat to Mr Burke's life from "the boys", meaning the IRA. He denied saying British intelligence intended killing Mr Burke.
The State is denying liability in that Mr Hughes went to Mr Burke on his own without reporting to his superiors any alleged threat to Mr Burke's life or had falsely and maliciously communicated the in formation to him.