A man accused of murder said there had been four attempts on his life since 40,000 ecstasy tablets went missing in a drugs "rip off".
Mr Joseph Delaney told his trial at the Central Criminal Court that on the night of the killing of Mark Dwyer he was "51, grossly overweight, alcoholic and on medication". Mr Delaney told his counsel Mr Blaise O'Carroll: "How was I to attack a much younger man?"
Mr Delaney (53), formerly of La Rochelle, Naas, Co Kildare, has pleaded not guilty to the charge that he, with his son Scott Delaney, then 22 years old, murdered Mark Dwyer (23) on or about December 14th, 1996, within the State.
Mr Joe Delaney has also denied that on the same date at Foster Terrace, Ballybough, Dublin, he falsely imprisoned Mr Dwyer.
Mr Delaney, describing himself then as suffering from depression, said his son, Robert, introduced him to the "criminal underworld", where a person would pay the price for their mistakes "with their life".
The jury heard Mr Delaney had once attempted suicide with pills and alcohol. He said he started using cocaine to ease the depression.
Implicating his son Robert in drug-dealing, he said he was a "rip off merchant" who had fled to the US "fearful" of people who had invested money in deals "and lost it". He said his son had been involved when a consignment of drugs went missing before and that Robert had asked his father to "operate" this consignment and he would receive a commission. He said Robert was "calling the shots, not me".
Describing the events that led to the night of the murder, Mr Delaney told the court 40,000 ecstasy tablets were to be escorted from Amsterdam via Cherbourg by train and later by boat to Dublin.
Mr Dwyer was asked to act as a courier to take the drugs from Amsterdam to Cherbourg, which he allegedly did. Another man was to load the drugs on a ship bound for Dublin and later deliver them to a prearranged spot.
On the delivery date, Mr Delaney told the court the courier rang to say he had been delayed by 24 hours and the pick-up venue was also changed.
Another man, Mr Christopher Curry, who also gave evidence earlier this week, was to send a courier to collect the drugs. Mr Delaney said he told Mr Curry about the change of venue, but Mr Curry's "worker" arrived late, and another man, working for Delaney's youngest son, Scott, backed out of his role in the plan at the last minute. Due to the changes in the plan, Mr Dwyer was asked to go to the new venue and "watch over things" from his car outside the pub.
Mr Delaney said when Mr Curry's courier arrived he entered the pub, and the man with the drugs allegedly told him he would give the bag to him outside. Once outside, Mr Curry's courier said he was knocked to the ground, had a "gun behind his head" and was shown a fake Garda badge. The man with the bag allegedly ran off, and Dwyer left the scene and told Mr Delaney there were "police all over the place" and the drugs were gone.
Mr Delaney said that since the "rip-off" there had been four attempts on his life. On one occasion, Mr Delaney said, he was attacked with a sharp instrument in the throat, narrowly missing his jugular, and he had received 19 stitches.
Describing Mr Dwyer as an "absolute gentleman", Mr Delaney said he got on extremely well with him and he had not been involved in his killing, that sort of thing would "not suit me", he said.
The trial resumes on Monday.