Paul Ward was jailed for life yesterday at the Special Criminal Court for the murder of the journalist Veronica Guerin.
Ward was convicted by the three judges at the non-jury court of the murder of Ms Guerin at the junction of Naas Road and Boot Road in Co Dublin on June 26th, 1996.
"Having reviewed the relevant evidence in this trial with meticulous care, in particular that of Charles Bowden and the accused, the court is satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the accused, Paul Ward, was an accessory before the fact to the murder of Ms Veronica Guerin on June 26th, 1996, and therefore is guilty of the offence charged in the indictment," Mr Justice Barr said.
He told Ward: "The court has an obligation as to sentence. Where an accused is convicted of murder the obligation is to sentence the accused to a term of imprisonment for life which should date back to when the accused first came into custody."
Ward, wearing a blue shirt buttoned to the neck, showed no emotion as the sentence was passed, but signalled to his girlfriend, Ms Vanessa Meehan, who was in the public gallery, as he was led from the dock.
The court decided it would hear an application by Ward's counsel, Mr Patrick MacEntee SC, for leave to appeal on January 18th next year.
Paul Ward (34), a native of Crumlin, Dublin, with an address at Walkinstown Road, Dublin, had pleaded not guilty to the murder of Ms Guerin, a 36-year-old mother of one, at Naas Road, Clondalkin, Co Dublin, on June 26th, 1996.
The prosecution claimed that Ward was a member of the gang that planned and carried out the killing and disposed of the murder weapon and a motorcycle afterwards when the killers called to his house.
During the 31-day trial the court heard that Ward had made alleged admissions of his part in the murder to gardai during interrogation following his arrest on October 16th, 1996. The court ruled that the three alleged admissions were not admissible in evidence, and the judges were highly critical of the Garda conduct of the interrogation.
The court also heard evidence from a State witness, Charles Bowden (34), who is serving a sixyear sentence in Arbour Hill prison for drugs and firearms offences and has been granted immunity from prosecution for the Guerin murder by the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Bowden told the court that he prepared and loaded the gun used to murder Ms Guerin and said Ward had taken part in meetings to plan the murder and had disposed of the motorcycle and gun used in the killing.
The court said meetings arranged by the gardai between Ward and his girlfriend, Ms Meehan, and his mother, Mrs Elizabeth Ward, "constituted deliberate gross violations of the fundamental obligation which the interrogators and their superiors had of conducting their dealings with the accused in accordance with principles of basic fairness and justice."
Giving judgment, Mr Justice Barr said: "On June 26th, 1996, Ms Veronica Guerin, a distinguished, brave journalist who specialised in the investigation of crime, was brutally murdered when riddled with bullets as she sat in her car waiting for traffic lights to change at Naas RoadBoot Road junction, Clondalkin, Dublin.
"Eyewitnesses have established that as the victim waited at the lights a motorcycle on which there were two persons drew up alongside her. The rider and the pillion passenger both wore full-size helmets which concealed their faces. The pillion passenger broke a window in the driver's door and then fired six bullets at point-blank range into the car. All struck the victim and caused fatal injuries from which it is probable that she died within seconds."
The judge said the evidence against Ward consisted of admissions allegedly made by him while in Garda custody in October 1996. One admission in which Ward allegedly said he was to "get rid of the gear" followed a meeting arranged between Ward and Ms Meehan, who was also in Garda custody on October 17th, 1996.
Up until that meeting Ward had maintained his policy of silence in the course of five sessions comprising "a total of 141/2 hours of intense interrogation by a series of experienced police officers.
"The coincidence that the accused's capitulation after more than 14 hours of silence during interrogations had occurred immediately after the visit by Ms Meehan is a remarkable volte-face which gives rise to unease and raises a series of pertinent questions."
The judge said there was no tenable explanation as to why the meeting with Ms Meehan had taken place and why Ms Meehan was kept in a cell at Lucan Garda Station overnight. The judge also said a red mark on Ward's neck, which was noted by a doctor, had not been fully addressed by the prosecution. Ward said the mark was caused by Sgt Condon in the course of an interview.
"An assault by Sgt Condon is, however, consistent with the accused's contention that he maintained silence and admitted nothing during this period of his detention."
The judge said the meeting between Ward and his mother on October 18th was "another very disquieting episode". The court was satisfied she did not ask to see her son and he did not ask to see her, and the circumstances of her arrival at Lucan were "most disturbing".
"The court is satisfied beyond all reasonable doubt that the visit from Mrs Ward was a deliberate ploy devised and orchestrated by the police in a final effort to prevail on the accused to disclose what he had done with the gun.
"The court is satisfied that the visit was not arranged for any humanitarian purpose but was a cynical ploy which it was hoped might break down the accused and cause him to make what was perceived to be a crucial admission regarding what had happened to the weapon.
"As to the visit from Ms Vanessa Meehan to the accused, the court accepts her evidence that she was successfully subjected to grievous psychological pressure."
The court said: "Another alarming feature relating to events during the period of the accused's detention at Lucan Garda station is the extraordinary fact that a number of significant documents are now alleged to be unaccountably missing. In all the circumstances the court is satisfied that in the interest of justice and fairness all admissions allegedly made by the accused during the period of his detention at Lucan Garda station must be ruled inadmissible."