A witness in a firearms trial today told the jury that it was not the accused who paid him for a second-hand car later linked to the murder of two young men.

A neighbour of a man charged with firearms offences has said he saw the accused in Ballyfermot on New Year’s Eve 1999, the same night that shots were heard near the Grand Canal in Co Kildare where two bodies were later recovered.

A man who was charged with the double murder of two young men whose bodies were dumped in the Grand Canal has told the Central Criminal Court the charges were dropped without explanation last Monday.