Assets belonging to drugs smuggler John Gilligan valued at €17m should be confiscated as a matter of public interest, the Supreme Court was told today.

Convicted drugs dealer John Gilligan smiled and said: "Keep it clean" after he was jailed for five years by the Special Criminal Court today for threatening to kill two prison officers and their families.

Convicted drugs dealer John Gilligan told the Special Criminal Court today that a prison officer verbally abused him and told him: "I hope you do every day of 28 years'' after a row over the opening of prison tuck shop.

A prison officer denied at the Special Criminal Court today that he had pushed convicted drugs dealer John Gilligan and used abusive language during an incident at Portlaoise Prison last year.

A prison officer told the Special Criminal Court today that convicted drugs dealer John Gilligan punched him in the jaw as he escorted him to a professional visit in Portlaoise Prison last year.

The Special Criminal Court has ordered that convicted drugs dealer John Gilligan should pay more than €17m within a year after finding that he had benefited from importing 17,500 kilos of cannabis into the country over a two-year period.

The Special Criminal Court today fixed June 4 as the provisional date for the trial of convicted drugs dealer John Gilligan on charges of assaulting a prison officer.

The State's attempt to confiscate the assets of convicted drug dealer John Gilligan rests on the evidence of Assistant Garda Commissioner, Tony Hickey, the Special Criminal Court heard today. Mr Gilligan briefly interrupted the proceedings from the dock to tell the court he has "no money".