The Special Criminal Court yesterday adjourned an application by the State to confiscate assets owned by John Gilligan, the drugs gang leader serving 28 years for importing cannabis.
The court was due to hear the application when the courts resume on April 23rd after the Easter break, but following an application by Gilligan's counsel, Mr Michael O'Higgins SC, the court adjourned the application for three days until April 26th. The court will now hear preliminary legal submissions on April 23rd.
Mr O'Higgins told the court yesterday that Gilligan was convicted of drugs offences and the State wanted to assess how much he had benefitted from them under sections of the Criminal Justice Act of 1994.
Mr O'Higgins wanted the State to set out what reliefs it was seeking under the Act.
State counsel Mr Peter Charleton SC said the court had already heard evidence that Gilligan made around £14.2 million from drugs trafficking and the court should make an order of confiscation of recoverable assets.
Mr Charleton said the evidence was that Gilligan was arrested in October, 1996 in possession of £313,000, that he bet huge amounts of money on horses, making a loss of 20 per cent and that he was in possession of the centre at Mucklon.
Counsel said that between June 1994 and April, 1995, Gilligan placed £1,052,000 in bets, making a return of £880,000.