Mobster John Gilligan is now facing the prospect of three years behind bars – after he appeared in court in Spain charged with sending drugs to Ireland by post.
The pint-sized criminal was facing eight years behind bars - but he has now been offered a deal of just 36 months in jail if he admits to the scam.
Gilligan was due to stand trial in the Spanish town of Torrevieja on Tuesday with eight other suspects for the drugs operation – but the case against them all was adjourned when his co-defendant son Darren (48) failed to appear with him.
READ MORE: John Gilligan to be hauled in front of Spanish court over drugs and weapons charges
Gilligan (70) is now expected to learn his fate in April next year.
And Spanish cops have now launched a manhunt for Darren - amid fears he may have left the country to head to his native Dublin.
His absence was confirmed when a court clerk called the nine defendants into court for the public session just before midday.
Court officials will now attempt to track him down before he is declared as being in contempt of court if they fail to locate him so he can be tried in his absence.
The trial judge in Torrevieja, which is near Alicante on the Coast Brava, is also considering a plea by Gilligan to have his passport returned to him – so he can drive his partner to the United Kingdom for treatment.
Judge Jorge Martinez was last night considering whether to let Gilligan and Sharon Oliver – who is also charged with offences over the drugs scam leave the country.
The couple’s lawyer made the travel submission after telling the court in open session Ms Oliver needed to head back to her homeland in England urgently for an operation on a hernia and Gilligan had to take her by car because she didn’t have a driving licence.
The request was not opposed by the state prosecutor, meaning it could be just a question of hours before Gilligan and his girlfriend leave Spain temporarily.
The unexpected twist in the case occurred after lawyers for the nine defendants due to be put in the dock failed to thrash out a plea bargain deal with the state prosecutor in a behind-closed-doors hearing before a judge ahead of a brief public session.
Gilligan, looking dapper in a light grey suit over a white shirt, talked animatedly outside the courtroom in the Costa Blanca town of Torrevieja with some of his co-defendants.
Sources confirmed after the trial suspension on Tuesday a plea bargain deal had been discussed.
But they said the state prosecutor’s offer of a three-year prison sentence for the illegal exportation of powerful sleeping pills called zimmos from Spain to Ireland in exchange for confessions had been the main sticking point.
The threat of a prison sentence of more than eight years if convicted at trial still hangs over Gilligan’s head following the failure to strike a deal that would have reduced the trial to a mere formality.
State prosecutors are demanding an 18-month prison sentence for unlawful weapons possession for Gilligan after a gun was found hidden in the garden of his expat home in Torrevieja.
Detectives said when he was arrested in October 2020 the gun was a rare Colt Python .357 Magnum and described it as the “same make and model” as the one used to kill journalist Veronica Guerin in an ambush at a red light on the outskirts of Dublin in June 1996.
Spanish prosecutors went on to describe it as a Colt Defender and call it an air pistol however in a written six-page indictment.
Prosecutors also want Gilligan jailed for another two years if convicted of smuggling cannabis into Ireland, four years for illegally exporting the prescription-only sleeping pills and 10 months for membership of a criminal gang.
The drugs were allegedly smuggled into Ireland via courier deliveries in boxes containing flip-flops and children’s towels.
It emerged on Tuesday that Gilligan had indicated in an earlier behind-closed-doors hearing he was ready to plead guilty to certain charges in return for a reduced sentence of three years.
One well-placed insider said: “The problem is that although Gilligan puts his hands up to wrongdoing to extricate people like his girlfriend, that’s not going to automatically lead to an acquittal for the other defendants if prosecutors are convinced they have a good case against them.
“The other issue are the concessions the state prosecutor is offering in return for official guilty pleas.
“Defendants are always going to be more likely to accept a deal where there is a significant prison time reduction on offer and that’s not happening here at the moment.”
The judge wrapped up the brief public session by saying: “We are going to suspend the trial to April of next year.”
The five lawyers acting for the nine defendants are now expected to continue trying to negotiate a plea bargain deal with state prosecutor Barbara Valero before the rescheduled three-day trial starting on April 17.
They are understood to be open to a deal if the offer on the table is little or no prison time.
Jail terms of two years or less are normally suspended in Spain for first-time offenders.
Police sources said at the time of Gilligan’s October 2020 arrest that the raid on the drug baron’s villa crucially took place as he was preparing a delivery to Ireland of marihuana and sleeping pills which heroin addicts use to help them numb pain.
A Spanish National Police spokesman did not name Gilligan in a force statement at the time but said: “Investigators managed to intercept four postal deliveries in Spain in which four kilos of marihuana and 15,000 pills had been hidden.
“The well-known Irish criminal who allegedly headed the organisation was sentenced to 28 years in prison in 2001 in Ireland and served 17 years.
“Irish investigators linked his organisation to the murder of an Irish journalist.”
READ NEXT:
Tributes pour in for "amazing" mother and Cork lecturer who died suddenly
Vicky Phelan's latest health update as she continues to fight cancer
Freak weather phenomenon could bring snow and storms to Ireland within weeks
Barry Keoghan opens up about fatherhood, girlfriend and living with famous pals
Lucy Kennedy calls hubby Richie ‘best friend’ as she gushes over loving marriage
Get breaking news to your inbox by signing up to our newsletter
