Walter Finch
VETERAN Irish gangster John Gilligan cut a sorry figure as he signed on at a Costa Blanca courthouse today – his first appearance since being released on €10,000 bail last month.
The 73-year-old looked a shadow of his former self as he arrived alone at the court in Orihuela near Torrevieja, swapping his usual dapper suits for scruffy shorts, an oversized shirt and dirty white trainers.
Gone was the expensive-looking attire he sported just over a year ago.
Instead, Gilligan appeared dishevelled, even resorting to the classic trick of pretending to take a phone call when photographers appeared.
READ MORE: Irish mobster John Gilligan jailed after pink cocaine laboratory is found at his Costa Blanca villa
In a move that raised more than a few eyebrows, court officials allowed the Irishman to slip out through a back door after completing his mandatory sign-on.
“Everyone else went out the way they came in through the front door, but for some reason John snuck out the back,” said one witness.
“It’s quite incredible someone with his history can get preferential treatment like that.”
Before his recent release, witnesses say Gilligan was reduced to sending desperate texts to friends and associates in Whatsapp groups across Alicante and Ireland begging for money to raise the €10,000.
“My name is **** I am a good friend of John Gilligan, he is 73, and in prison in Spain broke. John helped loads in his life and now he needs help money wise, no amount too small,” the message read.
“Please share this WhatsApp wth you friend an how John’s friends get to see it. To sent to lawyers bank account (Details given). RE John Gilligan. Money gram, western union or bank transfers. (sic)”
As part of his bail conditions, the Irishman has been banned from leaving Spain, forced to surrender his passport, and must sign on at court regularly.
He spent eight and a half months on remand in Alicante’s Fontcalent Prison before his release on August 29.
The court appearance comes as Gilligan remains under investigation for allegedly running a Breaking Bad-style drugs laboratory capable of producing up to €8 million worth of narcotics.
Spanish police raided the two-bedroom property near Torrevieja in December, discovering what they described as a sophisticated pink cocaine production facility.
The dramatic bust was part of Operation Overlord, involving elite Spanish anti-drugs units and the UK’s National Crime Agency.
Officers released footage showing heavily-armed police using battering rams to smash into the Costa Blanca property, where they also found a revolver wrapped in plastic and hidden in an outside wall.
The laboratory could have produced between 300 and 600 kilos of drugs worth €4-8 million on the street, according to Spanish police sources.
Gilligan was one of nine people arrested in the operation. The property allegedly belonged to his ex-partner Sharon Oliver, who was reportedly unaware of his activities and was not among those detained.
This latest brush with the law came just 15 months after Gilligan struck a plea bargain deal for previous drugs charges, receiving a suspended 22-month prison sentence and €14,000 in fines.
In that case, he admitted masterminding a Spain-to-Ireland cannabis and sleeping pill smuggling operation, with drugs and pills hidden in boxes containing children’s toys and flip-flops.
Gilligan’s criminal career spans decades, though he was famously acquitted of the 1996 murder of Irish journalist Veronica Guerin. The gun found during his 2020 arrest was initially linked to that case.
His son Darren and associate ‘Fat’ Tony Armstrong were among seven other men who received suspended 18-month sentences in the earlier drugs case.
The veteran criminal is expected to remain free until his trial for the latest drug charges, assuming prosecutors decide to proceed with the case against him.
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