John Gilligan walks free after plea bargain over drugs and weapons charges in Spain

Eight others were also freed after accepting the plea bargain deal

John Gilligan was handed a fine and suspended prison sentence by a Costa Blanca judge after admitting to smuggling cannabis and powerful sleeping pills into Ireland and being the owner of a weapon found hidden in the back garden of his Costa Blanca home. Picture: Solarpix.com

Irish gangster John Gilligan left a Spanish court a free man on Monday despite confessing to drugs and weapons charges.

He was handed a fine and suspended prison sentence by a Costa Blanca judge after admitting to smuggling cannabis and powerful sleeping pills into Ireland and being the owner of a weapon found hidden in the back garden of his Costa Blanca home.