A criminal associate of John Gilligan, the man accused of ordering the murder of journalist Veronica Guerin, today told a court how he cleaned and loaded the gun used to kill her.
Though drug dealer Charles Bowden knew the .375 Magnum would be used to shoot Ms Guerin, he told Dublin's Special Criminal Court he gave it no thought.
Bowden, 36, currently serving a six-year prison sentence for drugs and firearms offences, was giving evidence as a protected state witness against Gilligan.
Ms Guerin, 37, a crime reporter with the Sunday Independent was shot six times as she sat in her car at traffic lights on Naas Road, Clondalkin, Dublin, on June 2 1996.
The previous day Bowden left the loaded murder weapon at the lock-up at the Greenmount Industrial Estate in Harold's Cross which was used by Gilligan's gang, of which he was a member.
Bowden said: "I knew Veronica Guerin was going to be shot at, that there was going to be some attempt made to warn her off."
Bowden became involved with the Greenmount cannabis smuggling operation in September 1994 and he told the court he later invested in a hairdressing salon "as a cover for the fact that I had money to spend".
He said that after the Guerin murder he was aware he was likely to be arrested but the drug dealing "continued on as normal".
He added: "I did as much as I could to find some way of setting up an offshore bank account. I tried to amass as much money as I could."
On the weekend starting October 5, 1996, Bowden had arranged to go on a weekend trip to London with a girl without the knowledge of his then girlfriend, who later became his wife.
He arranged for his brother to buy plane tickets in the name Mr and Mrs Bowden, prepared to take with him more than IR£15,000 in cash and a borrowed credit card, topped up with a further IR£900.
Michael O'Higgins SC, defending, described Bowden's claim that the money was for "shopping" during the 36-hour trip as "absurd and nonsensical".
Mr O'Higgins accused Bowden of planning to flee the country, an accusation he denied.
Bowden was arrested at his home on the morning of his planned departure for the UK.
PA