Having posted an item on Friday about the British journalist who was suing the Irish state, I meant to record the fact that he lost his case. Yesterday, a Dublin high court jury found against Ian Bailey.
After hour upon hour of evidence from 93 witnesses over a period of 64 days, the jury took just over two hours to reach their unanimous verdict dismissing Bailey’s civil action.
He had sought damages over the conduct of the investigation into the murder of a French film-maker, Sophie Toscan du Plantier, whose body was found in west Cork in December 1996.
Bailey made claims of wrongful arrest, conspiracy, false imprisonment, assault and trespass against the Irish police. But the judge put most of those claims aside.
Instead, he asked the jury to decide only whether there had been a conspiracy by some police officers to implicate Bailey, a former crime reporter, in the murder.
After the verdict, Bailey’s lawyer said his client was “disappointed” at the outcome. It is thought that the trial has cost €5m (£3.6m) but, according to the Irish Independent, Bailey “has no known assets”. The state will therefore pick up the bill.
Sources: Irish Times/RTE/Irish Independent
