John Gilligan

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This article is about John Gilligan, an Irish criminal. For other persons named John Gilligan, see John Gilligan (disambiguation).

John Gilligan (born March 29, 1952) is an Irish drug smuggler who has been implicated in the murder of Veronica Guerin, the first ever murder of a journalist in Ireland. In the years following her assassination, "Factory John" has become one of Ireland's most reviled gangsters.

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[edit] Early life

John Gilligan was born in the Grangegorman district of Dublin's north side, the son of John Gilligan Sr., a merchant seaman and petty thief. He grew up in Ballyfermot on Dublin's south side, where his family had moved after the Dublin slum clearances of the 1950s. He attended Mary, Queen of Angels Catholic school in Ballyfermot, but dropped out of school at the age of 12.

He joined his father as a sailor for the State owned B & I Line, but used his job as an opportunity to smuggle guns and embezzle shipping fares. He married Geraldine Dunne, a neighborhood girl, at the Ballyfermot Church of Our Lady of the Assumption on March 27, 1974. She would become one of his closest partners in crime.

In early 1977, Gilligan along with his wife and two young children; Darren and Tracey, moved into local authority housing at Corduff Avenue, Blanchardstown, County Dublin. After a failed attempt at going straight (Gilligan started a used car business located in Grand Canal Street, Dublin), Gilligan returned to the criminal activities that would define his later life.

[edit] The boss

As his family grew, Gilligan switched from breaking and entering to armed robbery. He put a crew together who specialized in robbing cargo ships in Dublin harbor, hijacking trucks, and breaking into factories and warehouses. Geraldine would actively help him to fence the proceeds. By the mid 1980s, "Factory John" had become one of Dublin's most powerful gangsters. After years of cat and mouse games with the Garda Siochana, he was convicted of receiving and sentenced on November 7, 1990 to four years in Portlaoise prison.

[edit] The journalist

On September 14, 1995, investigative journalist Veronica Guerin called at Gilligan's equestrian center near Enfield, County Meath, which he had purchased with his drug profits. When she attempted to interview him, he attacked and threatened to kill her entire family if she continued to write about him. He then tore open her blouse while trying to see if she was wearing a wire. After the terrified journalist left, he allegedly telephoned her and threatened to kidnap and sodomize her son if she persisted in asking questions about him.

[edit] The murder

Gilligan reportedly wished to have Guerin murdered immediately after her visit, but was dissuaded by John Traynor, a longtime associate. But when Guerin decided to press charges and refused a substantial bribe to drop them, Gilligan decided that the hit should go ahead. On June 26, 1996, Veronica Guerin was shot at the intersection between Monastery Road and the Naas Road. The gun had been smuggled in a cargo container from Amsterdam and buried in the Jewish Cemetery in Tallaght.

[edit] Aftermath

The murder of Veronica Guerin touched off an international storm. Some analysts stated that narcoterrorism had arrived in Europe. Amidst a blaze of publicity, the Gilligan gang was subjected to a full scale police investigation by the newly founded Criminal Assets Bureau. After gang member Charlie Bowden turned State's evidence and disappeared into Ireland's newly founded Witness Protection Program, the gang was completely dismantled by the Irish police.

John Gilligan was extradited from London, where he had fled to avoid arrest. In 2001 he was sentenced to 28 years for possession of 20,000 kilograms of cannabis resin. This sentence was later reduced to 20 years on appeal.

In 2002, Gilligan was tried and acquitted of the murder of Veronica Guerin.

In 2002, the Special Criminal Court filed an order to confiscate and sell his 77-acre equestrian ranch. From prison, Gilligan contested this order all the way to the Supreme Court. On 21 December 2005, Gilligan won a temporary victory when the State's appeal was rejected unanimously. Gilligan's assets remain frozen, however, by the Criminal Assets Bureau. On January 30, 2006, the High Court cleared the way for the Criminal Assets Bureau to proceed with an application to have the equestrian centre and other property belonging to Gilligan and other members of his family handed over to the State.

[edit] External links

[edit] References

Paul Williams, Evil Empire; John Gilligan, his Gang & and the Execution of Journalist Veronica Guerin. (2001, Merlin Publishing).