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ARCHIVED - Spain issues international arrest warrant for missing son of Irish gangster John Gilligan
Gilligan’s drug smuggling trial in Alicante was suspended last year when his son failed to show up to testify
A Torrevieja court has once again suspended the trial of notorious Irish drug baron John Gilligan, which was scheduled to begin on Monday April 17, after a furious manhunt failed to turn up any trace of his son Darren. The father and son duo, along with seven other criminals, were due to take the stand last October in the Torrevieja courthouse, but Darren Gilligan failed to show up.
The younger man, who is also facing drugs and weapons charges, was reportedly in Ireland on the original trial date and couldn’t afford to travel to Spain. The judge placed him in contempt of court and now the Spanish authorities have issued a national and international arrest warrant for him.
John Gilligan is facing eight years behind bars in Spain after he and his cronies were caught red handed preparing a shipment of drugs destined for Ireland at his Alicante home in October 2020. According to official reports, the convicted trafficker was planning to smuggle huge amounts of cannabis and prescription sleeping pills in boxes of toys and flip flops.
When his property was raided, a gun was found in the back garden that was initially believed to have been the weapon used to murder journalist Veronica Guerin in 1996. This later proved not to be the case, but state prosecutors have nevertheless demanded an 18-month prison sentence for unlawful weapons possession.
Sources close to the case said of the latest trial suspension: “At the moment we just don’t know whether it’s going to be before the summer or after the summer. The important thing is that the new date that is agreed upon is abided by so this doesn’t turn into a farce.”
Gilligan senior was released from prison in Ireland in October 2013 after serving 17 years for trafficking cannabis resin. Among the other eight people due to stand trial with him in Spain, aside from Darren Gilligan, are his British partner Sharon Oliver and long-time associate ‘Fat’ Tony Armstrong.Fat Tony is widely believed to have orchestrated the murders of Shane Coates and Stephen Sugg, whose bodies were found under a Costa Blanca warehouse in 2006, but he has never been charged.
Images: Policia Nacional
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