The Spanish trial of convicted drug trafficker John Gilligan on drugs charges has been suspended after his son failed to appear at court to give evidence.
Lawyers for the nine defendants failed to agree a plea bargain deal with the state prosecutor in a behind-closed-doors hearing before a judge ahead of a brief public session.
Gilligan was acquitted of the 1996 murder of investigative journalist Veronica Guerin.
Sources confirmed the trial suspension after a plea bargain deal had been discussed.
Darren Gilligan's absence was confirmed when a court clerk called the 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 he can be tried in his absence.
State prosecutors are demanding an 18-month prison sentence for unlawful weapons possession for John Gilligan after a gun Spanish police linked to Ms Guerin’s assassination was found hidden in the garden of his 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 murder Ms Guerin in June 1996.
Prosecutors also want John 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.
Judge Jorge Martinez was last night considering whether to let John Gilligan and his girlfriend have their passports back so they can travel to England.
The couple’s lawyer made the travel submission after telling the court in open session his girlfriend needed to head back to her homeland urgently for an operation on a hernia and John Gilligan had to take her by car because she didn’t have a driving licence.
The request was not opposed by the state prosecutor.
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 17 April.
