Mob boss 'prayed to God for forgiveness' after being shot six times in drive-by
An Irish mobster has who was shot six times in a gang attack has opened up on his notorious life in a new book.
Criminal John Gilligan, 70, has described the terrifying moments he was the centre of an attempted assassination in a summation of his life with investigative journalist Jason O'Toole. John Gilligan - The Gilligan Tapes delves into Ireland's biggest crime boss in his own words and uncovers details how how he survived the March 2014 attack in Clondalkin, west Dublin and why he thinks he could be targeted again, the Irish Mirror reports.
Speaking about one of the attacks on his life, he explained: "I said to myself, ‘This is me out of this life. God, I’m sorry for all me sins, please forgive me.
"I survived six bullets going into me. The next time I won’t survive, you know, if there is a next time. I hope there’s not a next time, but if there is, there is.”
The mobster, who was charged with and later acquitted of the murder of crime reporter Veronica Guerin back in 1996, was targeted at his brother Thomas' home on March 1, 2014, just months after he walked out of prison for serving a 17 year sentence for smuggling millions of euros worth of cannabis to Ireland in the 1990s.
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The 70-year-old crime boss was shot six times in an attempted assassination (PA)Three months before this, he was meant to be the target of an assassination attempt, but was spared after the gang after him got the wrong pub. It was the same individuals who later tracked him down to his brothers home where he nearly lost his life and was forced to spend weeks recovering in a hospital before fleeing to England and then Spain.
Describing the incident to Mr O'Toole, Gilligan said: “They came bursting in. They kicked in the door as I was running down the hall. He shot me in the leg. When I was hopping down the hall, I tried to throw a dig. I said to myself, ‘I’m gone! F***! I’ll go out with a bang’.
The Irishman said he was laying on the floor when he was shot multiple times, but claims he felt "no pain" and then went on to play dead.
John Gilligan was shot months after he served 17 years in prison for drugs offences (PA)It's been reported that some sources believe that gardai think the murder bid was carried out by a Dublin gangster for the cartel led by Daniel Kinahan, 46 – but Gilligan denies that in the book. Speaking about the claims, Gilligan said: “No, 100 per cent it was not them. They said I’ve an enemy in Daniel Kinahan. I’ve no problem with him or anybody else in Ireland whatsoever.”
In the book, Gilligan explains how the gangsters were watching his brother's house before two "black African men" got out of the jeep with a machine gun and handgun. He goes on to say in what he thought were his last moments alive he apologised to God and asked him to forgive him for his sins. He then tried to run out down the hall before they burst in and he was shot in the leg.
Mr Gilligan explained: "They thought I had a bulletproof vest on because I’d my overcoat on. I never had a bulletproof jacket. I wouldn’t wear one to this day.
John Gilligan fled to the UK before moving to Spain, where he now lives (Irish Mirror)"I couldn’t live my life that way. And when he put his hand down my Crombie overcoat, I pulled his hand and the bullet went across my chest – it [just] missed my heart. That bullet is still in me. Then he put his hand up the bottom of my coat to shoot up into my chest. I pulled the gun away and the bullet went across me. And that bullet was still in me when I was discharged from hospital on 17 March 2014.
"When he took the last shot, he stood over me and missed and hit my face. But when I heard it go [off], I smacked my face against the floor like I was dead."
The veteran criminal described the whole ordeal as an out-of-body experience and thought he may have died and come back to life after the incident.
The crime boss admits he is lucky to be alive after the shooting (Irish Mirror)In the tapes for the book, the pair spoke about how Gilligan received last rights while he was in hospital, as well as losing around two stone while surgeons repeatedly cut him open and sewed him up in an attempt to save his life.
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Speaking about being released in the UK and what he did with his first taste of freedom, Gilligan explained: "It must have been about four in the morning when we went into McDonald’s. I was so happy because not one person turned around to look at me. The freedom of being left alone was great."
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