RETIRED DIRECTOR of public prosecutions Eamonn Barnes alerted the Irish authorities dealing with the extradition of Ian Bailey to the existence of a critical review of the Garda investigation into the murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier, The Irish Timeshas learned.
Mr Barnes contacted the DPP’s office in mid-October to alert officials there to the existence of this review of the case and the DPP in turn sought the advice of Attorney General Máire Whelan, who advised the document should be disclosed to Mr Bailey’s lawyers.
In an email sent on October 12th, Mr Barnes referred to the then forthcoming Supreme Court appeal by Mr Bailey against a High Court decision to direct his extradition to France to face a charge in relation to the murder of Ms Toscan du Plantier in west Cork in 1996.
The Irish Timesunderstands Mr Barnes said he felt that it was appropriate as a matter of ordinary justice that the DPP be aware of a review by a solicitor at the DPP's office which was highly critical of the case presented by investigating gardaí against Mr Bailey.
It is understood he expressed concern that it was likely that if Mr Bailey were to be sent to France, he could find himself held in custody for a long period prior to any trial and he believed in those circumstances, it was important that this review of the case be noted by the authorities.
The 44-page review by the solicitor, which was entitled “Analysis of the Evidence to Link Ian Bailey to Sophie Toscan du Plantier’s Murder” and was sent to senior gardaí in 2001, questioned the credibility of several key witnesses who had made statements to gardaí.
In the review, dated November 14th, 2001, the solicitor looks at each witness in turn and expresses reservations about the reliability of some of their statements which gardaí believed provided enough circumstantial evidence to warrant Mr Bailey being charged.
Contacted through an intermediary by The Irish Times,Mr Barnes declined to comment on the matter.
Mr Barnes was the DPP at the time of Ms Toscan du Plantier’s murder in 1996 but retired in 1999, two years before the dossier in question was prepared by the DPP’s office.
On November 10th last in the Supreme Court, lawyers for Mr Bailey confirmed that they had now received documentation which they said confirmed that Mr Bailey had been targeted by gardaí investigating the murder of Ms Toscan du Plantier.
Counsel for Mr Bailey, Martin Giblin SC, said that the documentation which had been disclosed by the State to them revealed “significant Garda misbehaviour” which was “breathtaking even by the lowest standards encountered by the courts”.
Mr Giblin said that material had also been made available to the French authorities who may or may not wish to take account of it in their proceedings to have Mr Bailey extradited to France on the European arrest warrant.
In their defence, Garda sources have told The Irish Timesthat senior gardaí responded to the November 2001 review with a 33-page dossier in late 2001/early 2002.
That dossier rebutted the reservations expressed by the solicitor at the DPP’s office in the review document sent to gardaí.
And they point out that the witnesses later confirmed their original statements when they were re-interviewed by a review team lead by Det Chief Supt Austin McNally who was appointed by then Garda commissioner Pat Byrne to review the original Garda file.
And they further point out that many of these witnesses later testified for a number of newspapers at a libel action brought by Mr Bailey in 2003 and the trial judge, Judge Patrick Moran, commented that he found many of their testimonies to be credible.
They point out that another review by Assistant Commissioner Ray McAndrew in 2005, after a key witness, Marie Farrell, retracted a statement implicating Mr Bailey did not result in any gardaí being prosecuted or disciplined over their handling of the original investigation.
“This review is not new evidence – it’s one person’s interpretation of the Garda file and their opinion on it and it’s been rebutted several times – by the McNally review, the testimony of the witnesses at the libel action and the McAndrew review,” said one Garda source.
Mr Bailey was twice arrested by gardaí for questioning about Ms Toscan du Plantier’s murder but was released without charge on each occasion and he has always denied any involvement in the Frenchwoman’s death.