Pressure was put on Ms Jules Thomas by gardaí into making a statement which could have been used to link her partner, Mr Ian Bailey, to the murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier, a court heard yesterday.
Ms Thomas (54) said remarks in a Garda statement with her signature regarding a "raw, fresh and bloody" scratch to Mr Bailey's face on the morning of the murder were an "invention" and been signed under duress.
The claims were made on the sixth day of a libel trial at Cork Circuit Court where Mr Bailey is suing seven newspapers in relation to the murder of Ms Toscan du Plantier on December 23rd, 1996.
Ms Thomas also told the court she was placed under pressure by gardaí to seek a barring order against Mr Bailey after he assaulted her two years ago. "I was put ender enormous pressure. Two detectives came around to the house. The gardaí seemed absolutely delighted. They were revelling in it," she said.
"They were saying to me, 'you must charge him, you've got to do the right thing'."
Mr Bailey later pleaded guilty to assault and received a three-month suspended sentence. Ms Thomas also told the court that articles written about Mr Bailey following his original arrest in February 1997 were "a million times worse than any of the beatings" she received from her partner.
She said articles, with headlines such as "Devil in the hill" and "Sophie man's shame", contained fictional incidents which were "hurtful" and had "sabotaged" their lives.
"I get nightmares, my sleep is disturbed, I still haven't got a sleep pattern. I couldn't paint for a long time afterwards, the concentration just wasn't there. It guts you," Ms Thomas, an artist, said.
She also objected to an article in the Sunday Independent which claimed she had a relationship with a local man named "Indian Joe" and had a daughter by him.
Ms Thomas said details like this had been just "made up".
The court heard that Ms Thomas, her daughter, and the father of her daughter had already received damages in an out-of-court settlement over a newspaper article relating to this area of her life.
She also said her family's life had been interrupted by the intrusion of the media, the alleged tapping of their phone and lack of contact from neighbours who, she claimed, had been warned off by gardaí.
Mr David Holland SC, for the newspapers, however, suggested that many of Ms Thomas's grievances were as a result of Mr Bailey's arrest and Garda activity, rather than anything contained in newspaper articles.
Ms Thomas also said gardaí put pressure on her into agreeing to a signed statement on February 10th, 1997, which said Mr Bailey returned to bed and felt cold on the night of the murder; that he looked tired in the morning; that she was felt duped after learning of an allegation that he had been seen washing his boots in a stream on the morning of the murder.
A document was produced in court of a complaint on Ms Thomas's behalf to the Chief State Solicitors' Office, complaining about the accuracy of her signed statement.
Ms Thomas said details about seeing a "raw" scratch to his face that morning were "fictional" and said that later on the day of the murder he received some grazing to his arms and a scratch to his head after killing a turkey and chopping down a Christmas tree.
"I didn't see any scratches, none were apparent. I would have noticed a scratch on his face," she said.
Ms Thomas also dismissed allegations that Mr Bailey burned bloodstained clothes in a fire on the grounds of the house three days after the murder or that she been taking photos of the murder scene with her partner before the murder was public knowledge.
However, Mr Holland said Ms Thomas was accepting Mr Bailey's version of events and downplaying the impact of the assaults she received from him in an attempt to protect him.
"I put it to you that you had to believe him because you need him. I put it to you that you have to believe him because your life would change irrevocably . . . and I suggest you are doing everything possible to protect him," Mr Holland said. Ms Thomas rejected this.
He also asked why Ms Thomas's daughter, Virginia, was not giving evidence, given that she was a key witness to many events.
Ms Thomas said her daughter was travelling to Thailand and, on questioning by Mr Holland, it emerged she left the country just yesterday.
Judge Patrick J. Moran said this was understandable given that the trial was originally due to last just three days.
The court also heard that violence also featured in Ms Thomas's two previous relationships before Mr Bailey.
When questioned about her most recent assault from Mr Bailey, two years ago, Ms Thomas described it as a "tussle".
She said his Achilles tendon had snapped and he was wearing aluminium crutches at the time.
"He was on strong painkillers and he had taken alcohol that night. His resistance was very low to anything I would say at that time."
She said she received a blow to the face from the crutch and was left with bruising.
Mr Holland said there was a substantial gap between her version in court and other accounts of the injuries she received.
When asked to describe the assaults, Ms Thomas said, "not good", before adding later, "any incident of this nature is appalling".
