A MAN charged with the murder of journalist Veronica Guerin was refused bail by the High Court yesterday.
Mr Paul Ward (32), of Windmill Park, Crumlin, Dublin, who is also charged with possession of drugs and possession with intent to supply at Old Court, Tallaght, Co Dublin, on October 17th last, had an application for bail on an original charge of conspiring with others to murder Ms Guerin turned down by the court last December.
Yesterday Mr Justice Moriarty was told by Ms Pauline Walley, counsel for the Director of Public Prosecutions, that the conspiracy to murder charge had since been withdrawn and the accused was now applying for bail on a charge of the murder of Ms Guerin on June 26th last. That application was being opposed by the State.
Refusing bail, the judge said the crime under investigation was one of the most notorious in recent years, if not in the State's history, and had attracted widespread national and international interest.
The court heard the accused had been involved in a 53 hour siege at Mountjoy Prison last January in which a number of prison officers were held hostage.
Det Insp Jeremiah O'Connell, Ballyfermot, said he was opposed to bail on the grounds that the accused would interfere with witnesses and would not stand trial.
Before Mr Ward's arrest on October 16th, his Dublin home had been searched by gardai more than once. The accused was not at home and was trying to evade arrest.
The inspector said he believed about seven close associates of the accused had absconded to continental Europe when they realised the Garda was seeking them and he also believed Mr Ward had been making plans to leave the jurisdiction. He was involved in corruptly obtaining a passport for his brother.
According to the witness, a number of potential witnesses in the case had been intimidated and their lives and the lives of their families had been threatened. Insp O'Connell said he had great concern for their safety and did not wish to identify them.
He said Mr Ward was currently serving a 12 month sentence imposed on March 27th last in relation to road traffic matters.
The accused had been returned to the Special Criminal Court on May 6th when a date for his trial would be set. The inspector said he expected the trial to follow reasonably quickly and the accused was the only person before the court on this matter.
Cross examined by Ms Marie Torrance, for Mr Ward, the inspector said he could categorically state that before his arrest the accused was not at his home when it was searched.
Asked if he was worried about the witnesses mentioned in the hook of evidence, or potential witnesses, the inspector said he was.
He did not hold the view that the accused would not interfere with potential witnesses and he told the court that the home of one potential witness had been destroyed in an arson attack.
Witness agreed the gardai had not taken the defendant's passport.
Counsel for the accused told the court that the mother of Mr Ward's 10 year old daughter, Chantelle, was buried three weeks ago and the child was distressed and distraught because she did not have her father.
Also opposing bail, Insp Martin Callinan of the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation said Mr Ward had been involved in an incident in Mountjoy Prison on January 4th. The accused was in custody in a wing known as the segregation unit when he and five other prisoners held prison officers against their will in a 52 hour siege.
In the subsequent investigation, statements from the prison officers held hostage indicated a propensity to very violent behaviour and many threats were made to them by the accused and by some of the other prisoners.
There were bloodfilled syringes and iron bars among the weapons that were used at that time," said the inspector.
He believed if granted bail, the accused would not stand trial. Mr Ward had indicated to him he viewed the prison siege as a matter more important that this particular charge.
The inspector, who said he was involved in the Guerin murder investigation, said he regarded the accused as a volatile prisoner. He accepted he had not been charged in relation to the prison siege but there was substantial evidence from hostages that they were held against their will despite very many pleas on their behalf by their colleagues and hostage negotiators for the siege to end.
Mr Patrick Ward, a brother of the accused, said he owned a house and a grocery shop and would be prepared to stand bail.