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Date Published: 05/10/2022

ARCHIVED - Gilligan trial suspended after his son fails to appear at Spanish court

ARCHIVED ARTICLE

The Irish drug dealer will likely be allowed to travel to the UK before a retrial next April

<span style='color:#780948'>ARCHIVED</span> - Gilligan trial suspended after his son fails to appear at Spanish court

The much-anticipated trial of notorious Irish drug baron John Gilligan has come to a rather anticlimactic end with further proceedings suspended until the new year. Gilligan was supposed to face a Spanish judge on Tuesday October 4 for charges of drug smuggling and illegal weapons possession and if convicted on all counts, would have faced more than eight years behind bars.

Now, the previously convicted drug dealer has not only been set free in Spain but is likely to be given back his passport so he can travel to the UK. Gilligan’s son Darren, who will also stand trial and was subpoenaed to give evidence yesterday, failed to show up, and Judge Jorge Martinez opted to suspend the trial until April next year.

The lawyers for the nine defendants facing charges failed to thrash out a plea deal before the brief public hearing, but are expected to continue negotiating with state prosecutor Barbara Valero before the new three-day court appearance on April 17.

According to pals of the family, Darren Gilligan is back in Ireland and couldn’t get to Spain as he is short on cash. Officials will now try to track him down and if he doesn’t surface, he will be held in contempt of court and tried in his absence.

In an unexpected twist, Gilligan’s lawyer asked the judge if the gangster could have his passport back, and the prosecution raised no objections. He claimed that the 70-year-old’s girlfriend, Sharon Osborne, needs an urgent hernia operation in the UK and that the Dublin man will have to drive her, since she doesn’t have a licence.

Chatting with his pal ‘Fat’ Tony Armstrong and a few other defendants outside the Torrevieja court house, Gilligan was heard saying: “I signed a declaration six months ago accepting blame and absolving others of responsibility.”

However, as one inside source explained, just because “Gilligan puts his hands up to wrongdoing to extricate people like his girlfriend, that’s not going to automatically lead to an acquittal for the other defendants if prosecutors are convinced they have a good case against them”.

Image: Policia Nacional

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