Libel lawsuits lodged in relation to Guerin murder claims
John Gilligan and Patrick ’Dutchy’ Holland have lodged libel lawsuits totalling €2.8m claiming defamation in the aftermath of the killing of journalist Veronica Guerin.
Just before 1pm yesterday – on the 10th anniversary of Ms Guerin’s cold blooded murder – the papers were lodged in the High Court of Justice in the UK.
The writs were made following a national television documentary on the death on the mother-of-one.
Holland is claiming against Independent News And Media Limited (Evening Herald) and columnist Gerry O’Carroll for defamation with a value of £1m (€1.4m) sterling, while Gilligan and his wife Geraldine are claiming against RTE and Ms Guerin’s brother Jimmy Guerin for defamation with a value of £1m (€1.4m) sterling.
“Accusations have been coming from all quarters against John Gilligan and Patrick Holland and others yet in essence the substance of it all is that the real killers are free,” said the men’s lawyer, Giovanni Di Stefano.
“On the anniversary of Veronica Guerin’s death writs in the High Court of Justice have been issued against RTE and Jimmy Guerin (from Geraldine and John Gilligan) and The Evening Herald and Gerry O Carroll (for Patrick Holland) for defamation and the claim is for £1,000,000 against each party.
“Mr Gilligan may be incarcerated but that is not a free for all against those that wish to profit from his misfortune. Mrs Gilligan is not and never has been in custody.
“Patrick Holland has never even been charged and as a direct result of his incarceration his poor wife, Angela, may God Bless Her, died and Patrick Holland was never even allowed to go to her funeral.”
In the mid-1990s Ms Guerin embarked on a crusade to expose in the Sunday Independent the ruthless dealings of drugs barons in Ireland.
But her high profile war against gangsters was brought to an end when a gunman on a motorbike shot her dead in her car at traffic lights on the Naas Road on June 26 1996.
The subsequent criminal investigation was one of the largest in the history of the state and led to over 150 arrests.
Drugs baron John Gilligan was extradited from England in February 2002. He was tried and acquitted of her murder but convicted of importing cannabis and is serving 20 years behind bars.
The man named in court as having pulled the trigger in the Guerin murder, Patrick ‘Dutchy’ Holland, reiterated his denial that he carried out the murder earlier this year after he was released from a prison sentence for a drugs conviction.
Brian Meehan was convicted of the murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. Paul Ward was also convicted and sentenced to life in prison in November 1988, but his conviction was later overturned on appeal.
Last night, a solemn service was held to remember the courageous journalist where she was killed. More than 100 people gathered in silence to pay tribute to the mother-of-one on the Naas Road. A wreath was also laid at a monument erected in her memory in 2002.
