Court to rule on Ian Bailey appeal tomorrow
The Court of Appeal will give its judgment tomorrow on Ian Bailey’s appeal over a High Court jury’s dismissal of his claim that various gardai conspired to frame him for the late 1996 murder in west Cork of French film maker Sophie Toscan du Planter,
The appeal was heard over two days last March and Ms Justice Mary Finlay Geoghegan, sitting with Mr Justice George Birmingham and Mr Justice Gerard Hogan, said it raised "important and difficult issues" and the court was reserving judgment.
Mr Bailey’s 17 grounds of appeal include claims the trial judge, Mr Justice John Hedigan should not, on day 62 of the 64 day case and following a State application, have withdrawn from the jury most of Mr Bailey’s claims, including of wrongful arrest, on grounds those were statute barred.
Mr Bailey claims that meant the jury was left to consider only a "narrow" aspect of his conspiracy claim.
Mr Bailey’s side also argued Mr Justice Hedigan should not have warned key witness Marie Farrell about perjury in front of the jury and had wrongly curtailed evidence given by former DPP’s Eamonn Barnes and James Hamilton and from Robert Sheehan, a solicitor in the DPP’s office who criticised the Garda investigation.
The State has cross-appealed the judge’s decision insofar as it allowed the jury consider whether three gardai conspired to frame Mr Bailey for murder. The State contends the conspiracy claim was imprecisely pleaded and was also statute barred.
The State also argued the warning by Mr Justice Hedigan to Ms Farrell, when seen in the entire circumstances of Mr Bailey’s civil case against the Garda Commissioner and State, could not be regarded as having biased the jury against Mr Bailey.
It said the warning was given in the context of Ms Farrell having made “sensational” allegations against gardai, including of sexual impropriety, and admitting perjuring herself in separate libel proceedings by Mr Bailey against various media.
