English journalist Ian Bailey has claimed he was threatened by gardaí that he would be found shot dead in west Cork after they arrested him for questioning about the murder of French film producer Sophie Toscan du Plantier in December 1996.
Mr Bailey (50) said he was "absolutely astonished" when gardaí arrived at the studio house owned by his partner, Jules Thomas, at Liscaha, Schull, at about 9.30am on February 10th, 1997, and told him they were arresting him for the murder of Ms Toscan du Plantier.
He said he was brought to Bandon Garda station and the atmosphere in the car during the trip was "very aggressive", with Det Garda JP Culligan, who was sitting next to him in the back, telling him he should "get his act together" as they knew he was the killer. "The driver of the car said, 'Ian, even if we don't pin this on you, you're finished in Ireland, you will be found dead with a bullet in the back of your head' . . . I was in a state of numbed shock and protested that I had nothing to do with the murder," said Mr Bailey.
Mr Bailey (50) is taking a High Court appeal in Cork after his unsucessful libel action against the Sunday Times, the Times, the Sunday Independent, the Independent on Sunday, the Starand the Daily Telegraph.He claims the publications wrongly linked him to the murder.
Mr Bailey also told his High Court libel appeal against six newspapers how he was visited by Det Supt Dermot Dwyer at his home at the Prairie, Liscaha, where, over coffee and mince pies, Det Supt Dwyer told him that they would link him to the killing. "Dermot Dwyer asked me did I play poker. I said I didn't. He said: 'You should - I am going to put you at Kealfadda Bridge in the early hours of the morning.' I said that was absolutely nonsense and he said: 'We will see.' It was one of the most astonishing things I had ever heard."
Mr Bailey said he noticed he was attracting a lot of Garda attention when he went into Schull on December 27th, 1996, where, in Brosnan's shop, he noticed that local garda Kevin Kelleher and another officer, Det Garda Bart O'Leary, were watching him closely. "It was slightly strange to say the least. I was aware that I was being scrutinised quite closely by Det Garda O'Leary in particular. I went across the street and I observed that I was being observed by them - I found myself watching the detectives watching me," he said.
The next day Mr Bailey was visited by Garda Kelleher and Det Garda O'Leary, who questioned him about his movements over the Christmas period and he noticed that Det Garda O'Leary was looking at his arms, which bore grazes from cutting down a Christmas tree.
Mr Bailey said the first he learned of Ms Toscan du Plantier's murder was when he received a phone call from then Cork Examiner west Cork reporter Eddie Cassidy at about 1.40pm on December 23rd, telling him of "the suspicious death of a foreign national, a female".
"As a journalist, the phrase 'suspicious death' immediately indicated to me it could be a murder. Although the word murder wasn't used, the phrase [suspicious death] certainly created that thought in my mind." Mr Bailey said he had worked the previous summer for Alfie Lyons in Toormore and knew that his neighbour was a French woman. He said that he had never been introduced to her but he immediately "made that connection" after being alerted by Mr Cassidy.
Throughout yesterday's hearing, Mr Bailey repeatedly rejected media reports he had known Ms Toscan du Plantier though he said he stood over "to this day" an article he wrote in which he said she did "have relationships external to her marriage".