Bailey ‘aghast’ at senior garda’s ‘nonsense’ remarks

A Garda superintendent called to Ian Bailey's home and told him that he believed Mr Bailey knew more about the murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier than he was "letting on", Mr Bailey told the jury at the High Court today.

Det supt Dermot Dywer had visited Mr Bailey at home in January 1997 and asked him if he played poker. When Mr Bailey said no, supt Dwyer replied that “you should”, Mr Bailey said.

Mr Bailey said he knew poker was a "game of bluff" and the superintendent told him he thought Mr Bailey knew more about the murder than he was letting on and that he would place him at Kealfadda Bridge, near Toormore, west Cork in the early hours of December 23rd, 1996.

The jury has heard Ms Toscan du Plantier’s body was found near Toormore on that day.

Mr Bailey said he was “aghast” and told supt Dwyer that was “nonsense”, to which the supt replied: “we’ll see.”

Mr Bailey, who lives at The Prairie, a townland adjacent to Toormore, said he was phoned by a Cork Examiner journalist about 1.40pm on December 23rd, 1996 and asked to liaise with him about the suspicious death of a woman described on the 2pm news as French.

Mr Bailey said he drove towards the Toormore area with his partner, Jules Thomas, who had a camera, intending to look for information from the post office. He met a woman whom he knew who told him of Garda activity on a lane. They took some photographs before returning home.

There was a studio down the garden of his home he used as an office and Mr Bailey said he had rose at about 4am that Monday to work on an article. It was to be faxed to the Sunday Tribune later that same morning. He was up for about 45 minutes and then went back to bed, he said.

When he rang the Sunday Tribune at about 10.30am, he was told his article did not need to be faxed and he could phone it to a copytaker the following day, Tuesday 24th, he said.

Later on the 23rd, after a photographer contacted him, Mr Bailey gave that man directions to come to The Prairie and went with him to the scene where he spoke to gardaí and a journalist.

The killing seemed to hit the Schull area like a “mini-nuclear device”, said Mr Bailey said, and everyone seemed to know the details – that the woman had been bashed to death with a rock.

Mr Bailey also said he had killed three turkeys on December 22nd and received a light scratch on the hairline from one turkey’s leg when hanging the bird on to a nail to kill it. He also cut down a Christmas tree that Sunday afternoon and had some welts on his arm.

Mr Bailey said he came home on January 31st, 1997, to find a garda, Pat Joy, "ripping" out samples of hair from Ms Thomas. Both of them provided hair samples and fingerprints and he also provided footwear.

Mr Bailey said he understood that some 60 local people had also provided samples.