The opening statements in the case against the Irish state and Ireland's police chief by British journalist Ian Bailey make for eye-opening reading.
His legal actions stem from his treatment by the authorities following the murder of French film-maker Sophie Toscan du Plantier in west Cork in 1996.
Bailey's lawyer, Tom Creed, told the Dublin high court yesterday of damning allegations against the police Mr Bailey and of "deliberate corrupt behaviour" by officers convinced Bailey was the murderer.
He said that Bailey will tell of an officer who told him: "If we can't pin this on you, you're finished in Ireland. You'll be found dead in a ditch with a bullet in the back of your head."
Those remarks were made when Bailey was arrested in February 1997 on suspicion of the murder. He was then subjected, said Creed, to an "unremittingly hostile" interrogation.
Bailey was treated "like a criminal" by the police. He was arrested twice but never charged and contended both arrests were "actuated by malice".
He also contends that police deliberately leaked to the media that he was the prime suspect for the murder in order to ensure he would not get a fair trial if ever charged, said Mr Creed.
He was opening Bailey's action against the Garda commissioner and state for alleged wrongful arrest, false imprisonment, conspiracy, assault and intentional infliction of emotional and psychological suffering.
The defendants deny all the allegations and also plead immunity from being sued by a suspect over an alleged negligent investigation.
Creed also told how Bailey's partner, Jules Thomas, wrote a letter to the director of public prosecutions three years ago in which she appealed for the DPP to prosecute Bailey.
The lawyer invited the jury to imagine how "despairing" it was for Thomas to write such a letter, which she had witten in order to put the couple out "of this mental torture".
In a reply, the DPP's deputy director had said that it would not be appropriate to do so, noting that a decision had already been taken not to charge Bailey.
The trial, before a jury of eight men and four women, is expected to last up to six weeks. It continues today.
Bailey, a British citizen who has lived in west Cork for 23 years, was formerly a crime reporter in Manchester.
Sources: Irish Times/Irish Independent
