Veronica Guerin
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Veronica Guerin (July 5, 1958- June 26, 1996) was an Irish journalist who was murdered in 1996 by Irish drug dealers.
Veronica Guerin had studied accountancy and political research and had founded a public relations company before she joined the Sunday Business Post and Sunday Tribune. In 1994, she began to write about criminals for Irish newspaper Sunday Independent. She used nicknames for underworld figures to avoid Irish libel laws. When she began to cover drug dealers, she received numerous death threats.
When Guerin was shot in the leg at her home on January 30 1995, some of her critics argued that she had staged the whole thing for publicity purposes. Regardless, she vowed to continue her investigations. Independent Newspapers installed a security system to protect her. On September 13, 1995, convicted criminal John Gilligan attacked her when she tried to interview him. He later called her at home and threatened to kidnap and rape her son if she wrote anything about him. The Garda Síochána (Irish police) gave her a 24-hour escort but she did not approve of this, saying that it hindered her style.
On June 26 1996, when Guerin was sitting in her red Opel Calibra at an intersection outside Dublin, one of two men sitting on a motorcycle beside her car fatally shot her five times. Guerin's murder caused outrage and Irish Prime Minister John Bruton called it "an attack on democracy". The following criminal investigation lead to over 150 arrests and a hunt against Irish organised criminal gangs. There was also some discussion as to whether her newspaper shared any blame in her death for not preventing her more dangerous investigations.
In November 1998, Dublin drug dealer Paul Ward was convicted of the murder for life in prison as an accomplice because he had disposed of the pistol and the motorcycle. Brian Meehan was likewise convicted for life for driving the motorcycle. The shooter remains unconvicted. John Gilligan was extradited from England February 3 2000. He was tried and acquitted for her murder but convicted of importing cannabis and sentenced to 28 years in prison.
Two films have been based on her story: When the Sky Falls (starring Joan Allen as "Sinead Hamilton"), and Veronica Guerin (starring Cate Blanchett).de:Veronica Guerin