It was "simply unacceptable" for the non-jury Special Criminal Court to put John Gilligan away for 28 years on the basis of evidence that was "simply not there", the Court of Criminal Appeal was told yesterday.
Mr Michael O'Higgins SC, for Gilligan, said the court had made findings of fact, including that Gilligan was part of a six-man drugs gang operating out of Greenmount Industrial Estate, Harold's Cross, Dublin.
These findings were not grounded on any evidence either corroborative of, or independent of, evidence from Charles Bowden, a man who the court itself had ruled was a self-serving liar.
While the court had ruled it was not safe to rely on the evidence of Bowden and Russell Warren, unless that evidence was corroborated in a significant way, it then went on unilaterally and without explanation to make several findings that breached its own ruling.
The court had found Gilligan was associated with a drugs gang on the basis of Bowden's evidence and on the basis of a video showing Gilligan attending a wedding in Santa Lucia with other alleged members of the drugs gang.
That video was essentially used as a piece of circumstantial evidence that could only be consistent with guilt, Mr O'Higgins said.
The finding that Gilligan was associated with the alleged members of a drugs gang was also based on a quantity of money, £46,000, which was found when gardaí stopped a car in which Brian Meehan and Peter Mitchell were travelling.
Gilligan had said the money was his and it was later returned to him. While this cash find was suspicious, it was "a big jump" for the court to find this was evidence of an association between Gilligan and a drugs gang, counsel said.
Mr O'Higgins was continuing his submissions on the fourth day of the appeal by Gilligan against his conviction on charges of importing and possessing cannabis resin for sale and supply.
Gilligan was sentenced to 28 years' imprisonment in March 2001 after a trial lasting 45 days before the Special Criminal Court. The appeal opened on Tuesday and was expected to last four days.
Submissions for Gilligan are continuing but are expected to conclude on Tuesday when the hearing resumes.
Submissions from lawyers for the DPP, opposing the appeal, are expected to last another day and the hearing is expected to conclude on Wednesday with judgment reserved by the three-member court.
Yesterday Mr O'Higgins made submissions challenging the basis on which the court had found Gilligan guilty of charges of importing cannabis resin and having the drug for sale or supply.
He argued it was necessary to set out that evidence in detail. Judges were obliged to set out their full reasoning for a decision to hold a man in custody for 28 years, he contended.
