The trial of Bernard Dempsey was marked by proceedings which occurred in the absence of the jury, including the arrest of two men on suspicion of plotting against the jury of 10 men and two women.
A week before the trial, a witness wrote to the DPP informing him of his decision not to give evidence, and of his intention to leave the jurisdiction.
Five days before the trial he was picked up by gardaí on foot of a court order and remanded in custody.
He appealed to the Supreme Court for his release on the grounds that his right to life superseded the State's need for him to give evidence in the trial. But his appeal was rejected and he was forced to give evidence.
After sentencing, Det Insp Gabriel O'Gara said there was "widespread intimidation involved in the case". He said one witness received a death threat just 13 days after identifying Dempsey in the Garda identification parade. He said he viewed them as "very genuine threats".
A number of people close to the witness were also intimidated. A Garda investigation began into the source of the threats but they were unable to prosecute.
Det Insp O'Gara said the gardaí received information in February related to the case, which suggested the accused was planning for two men and a woman to be "taken out".
As a result of this information, he said, bail was revoked and Dempsey was remanded in custody.
Det Insp O'Gara revealed that the intimidation involved a "subversive background" associated with "proscribed organisations". Two days before the end of the trial, two Dublin men entered the courtroom and spoke to the accused before the jury were brought out.
Garda John Brady overheard them speaking about the jury and informed prosecuting counsel, Brendan Grehan SC, of his concerns.
The two men left the courtroom while Mr Grehan was making an application to have the two removed from the precincts of the court. But gardaí brought them back under directions by Mr Justice Paul Carney, who questioned them about their conversation.
Both men denied having spoken about "getting the jury f****d up". But Justice Carney ordered them to be remanded in custody for the remainder of the trial.
He said this was necessary to retain the "integrity of the trial".
The evidence given in court by three prosecution witnesses, John Murphy, Joan Arnold and Phyllis Carpenter, differed from statements they had made to gardaí against the accused.
Consequently, Mr Grehan asked for the jury to leave so he could make an application to have them declared hostile by the trial judge and cross-examine them. Mary Kennedy, Dempsey's sister, was one of three women who were sitting at the table with James Curran when he was murdered.
She was reluctant to give evidence against her brother.
Ms Kennedy was remanded in custody so that she could not be influenced or intimidated before she finished giving evidence.
The next day, she broke down in the witness box as she told the jury her brother was standing behind the victim at the time of the shooting and admitted he could not have been helping him.