since there is no longer a serious terrorist threat to the State (see: Northern Ireland peace process), although others disagree and cite the continuing violence from dissident republican terrorism, international terrorism and serious gangland crime. Under the law, the court is authorised to accept the opinion of a Garda Síochána chief-superintendent as evidence that a suspect is a member of an illegal organisation. However, the court has been reluctant to convict on the word of a garda alone, without any corroborating evidence. Sinn Féin had stated in the past that it was their intention to abolish the Special Criminal Court as they believed it was used to convict political prisoners in a juryless court, however Sinn Féin are no longer in favour of its abolition. Some prominent Sinn Féin members (including Martin Ferris and Martin McGuinness) have been convicted of offences by it. In 1973 Martin McGuinness was tried at the SCC, which he refused to recognise, after being arrested near a car containing 250 pounds (110 kg) of explosives and nearly 5,000 rounds of ammunition. He was convicted and sentenced to six months imprisonment. Well-known cases In 1976 Marie and Noel Murray were sentenced to death by the court for the capital murder of Garda Michael Reynolds. The convictions were overturned on appeal and they were instead sentenced to life in prison for "ordinary" murder. They were released in 1992. One of the most famous is the case of Nicky Kelly, who was convicted along with two other men by the Special Criminal Court in 1978 of carrying out the Sallins Train Robbery. All three convictions were later overturned after it was found that the suspects had been assaulted by gardaí while in custody. In 1997 and 1998 John Gilligan, Patrick "Dutchy" Holland, Brian Meehan and Paul "Hippo" Ward were all tried by the Special Criminal Court on charges relating to the murder of journalist Veronica Guerin and drug trafficking charges. Paul "Hippo" Ward was convicted of the Guerin murder and sentenced to life in prison as an accomplice in the assassination. Brian Meehan was convicted on the testimony of gang member turned state's witness Russell Warren and was convicted of murdering Guerin, and sentenced to life imprisonment. In 1999 Pearse McAuley from Northern Ireland and three County Limerick men; Jeremiah Sheehy, Michael O'Neill and Kevin Walsh – all members of the Provisional IRA – were convicted by the