Marie Farrell's testimony

What she said at the libel trial.

Schull shopkeeper Marie Farrell proved a critical witness for eight newspaper titles in their defence of a libel action by Ian Bailey.

Contrary to an earlier report, Mrs Farrell had been subpoenaed by the newspapers after they had obtained discovery of Mr Bailey's witness statements to the Garda which identified her as a crucial witness in the case that the Garda was preparing.

Mrs Farrell's evidence was crucial in that she was the only witness to appear for the papers who provided testimony to contradict Mr Bailey's testimony that he did not leave his property at Liscaha, Schull, on the night that Sophie Toscan du Plantier was murdered.

She testified that she had seen him at Kealfadda Bridge about 1.6 miles from Ms Toscan du Plantier's house at 3am on December 23rd, 1996. Judge Patrick Moran in his judgment said: "On the balance of probabilities, I accept what Mrs Farrell told me that the man she saw at Kealfadda Bridge was, in her view, Ian Bailey."

Mrs Farrell began her sworn testimony by saying how she first saw a man outside her shop in Schull on the afternoon of December 21st, 1996, she subsequently saw him hitching on Air Hill in Schull at 6am on December 22nd, before seeing him again at Kealfadda Bridge at 3am on December 23rd. She said she did not know who he was then, but she saw him again in January.

"The town was full of teams of detectives investigating the murder and I had gone down to a local shop to buy a newspaper. When I went in, I saw the same person in the shop. I left the shop and met one of the gardaí outside. I told him the person I had seen was in the shop," she said.

"Who was that person?" asked Paul Gallagher, SC for the newspapers.

"Ian Bailey," she said.

She later told how Mr Bailey came into her shop in summer 1997. "He had sent me a message first that he was calling and I had told the gardaí because I was really afraid. He came into the shop on a Saturday morning. He came to the counter and opened his coat and he said 'I am all wired up' and he had a tape recorder on him."

Mrs Farrell said she followed Mr Bailey into the back of her shop where he produced notebooks and a sheet of paper.

"On it was my husband's business address in London, our home address in London, even addresses that I lived in in Longford, where I am originally from. He said to me that he knew things about me and that if I scratched his back, he would scratch mine.

"He gave me a business card of his solicitor and he told me to ring his solicitor and arrange to make an appointment to make a statement to say that I made false statements about him. I told him I couldn't do that, I hadn't made any false statements about anybody."

Mrs Farrell also told of a visit by Mr Bailey's partner, Jules Thomas. "She wanted me to come to their house, she asked would I come to their house and go on tape and say that the gardaí were putting pressure . . . had put pressure on me - to make false statement about Ian. Again I told her that I couldn't do that," she said.

"Did the gardaí put any pressure on you?" asked Mr Gallagher SC.

"No, the gardaí didn't know me from Adam until I contacted them," she replied.

Mrs Farrell has now told Mr Bailey's solicitor, Frank Buttimer, that statements she made implicating Mr Bailey in Ms Toscan du Plantier's death are false and inaccurate.