Retired detective denies garda intimidation of witness
Retired detective sergeant Maurice Walsh has denied that gardaí put "the frighteners" on a key witness in the Ian Bailey case.
He also said he was shocked at claims he had exposed himself to Schull shopkeeper Marie Farrell.
Mr Bailey, a journalist, is suing the State and Garda Commissioner for alleged wrongful arrest on suspicion of murdering French film maker Sophie Toscan du Plantier in West Cork in 1996.
In her evidence, Schull shopkeeper Marie Farrell alleged that retired detective Maurice Walsh exposed himself to her in the toilets of Schull Golf Club in the summer of 1998.
In the witness box yesterday, the former sergeant said the allegation was an outrageous lie.
Today, under cross examination by lawyers for Ian Bailey, he said when he first heard the claim he was "shocked" and told an inquiry into the du Plantier investigation "I never dropped my trousers."
He also denied putting the frighteners on another key witness Martin Graham who he described as a "double crossing double agent".
The former British soldier claims gardaí gave him cannabis to befriend Ian Bailey.
