Ian Bailey’s partner: Some material in statements ‘invention’

A solicitor for Jules Thomas wrote to a State Solicitor in 1998 saying she "emphatically" would not stand over statements allegedly made by her to gardaí in February 1997 if called to give evidence at any trial, the High Court has been told.

Ms Thomas and her partner Ian Bailey were separately detained on February 10th 1997 for questioning in Bandon Garda station in connection with the murder of French film-maker Sophie Toscan du Plantier whose body was found near Toormore, Schull, on the morning of December 23rd 1996.

Ms Thomas said in court she had no recollection of saying to gardaí Mr Bailey got up about an hour after they went to bed on the night of December 22nd/23rd 1996, having left a bar in Schull about 12.30am.

She said she did not say he “got up easy” so as not to wake her up. She agreed it was common for Mr Bailey to leave the bed and said he would often get up to write and had a newspaper article to write at that time.

She denied telling gardaí Mr Bailey said to her, when they stopped at Hunt’s Hill near Schull sometime earlier that night on their way home, he had a feeling something bad was going to happen. That was “absolute invention”, she said.

She was asked about Garda notes recording she had said Mr Bailey asked her at Hunt’s Hill was that “Alfie’s house” over there [a reference to Alf Lyons, whose home was adjacent to Ms Toscan du Plantier’s holiday home], before saying “there’s a light on”.

Mr Bailey had not said that and a note by gardaí recording she had said Mr Bailey had said he was going over there later was “pure invention”.

It was not possible to see Mr Lyons’s house from Hunt’s Hill, there were no lights and it was dark, she said. Gardaí had referred during interviews with her to there being a party in Mr Lyons’s house that night but there was no party, she said.

She also denied telling gardaí Mr Bailey had “mentally manipulated” her . She did not remember saying to gardaí Mr Bailey had asked her what she had told gardaí about where she was before telling her: “Ok, stick with that”.

She was being cross-examined in the continuing action by Mr Bailey against the Garda Commissioner and State arising from the conduct of the Garda investigation into the murder of Ms Toscan du Plantier. The defendants deny all of Mr Bailey’s claims, including of wrongful arrest and conspiracy to manufacture evidence.

The case was adjourned for two days due to absence of one juror but resumed yesterday before all 12 members of the jury.

Paul O’Higgins SC, for the State, put to Ms Thomas she was incorrect in saying there were additions, omissions and inventions in the Garda notes of the interviews with her in Bandon. Ms Thomas disagreed and said there were. She accepted counsel’s suggestion the Garda notes sometimes recorded some matters in favour of Mr Bailey.

Mr O’Higgins also put to her she was incorrect in her evidence she made a 17 page statement but only 11 pages were produced later. Counsel said there were 17 sheets of papers altogether and all those were given to her solicitor.

Ms Thomas said, at the end of her questioning, there was a “stack” of papers and she counted 17 pages. When her solicitor was later given a copy of her statement, there were several pages missing, she said. Mr O’Higgins said typed statements were provided to her solicitor. She said she believed there were typed and handwritten.

She agreed notes of interviews were read over to her and she had signed those. When she read the papers at a later date, “they did not match up with what I said”.

Asked about a statement signed by her at 11.50pm on February 10th 1997. She said the English used in that statement on occasions was not her English and there there were “additions, omissions, inventions and observations” she had not made.

She said she told gardaí she had seen no scratch on Mr Bailey’s forehead on Sunday December 22nd 1996 and had not told gardaí “or at least I didn’t see one”, as their notes recorded. He had a “tiny nick” on his hairline, she said.

Asked had she told gardaí Mr Bailey could have pushed out her car without her knowing and freewheeled it down the road, as he had done so in the past, she said she did not think she said that and also denied saying Mr Bailey sometimes went “walkabout” at night.

The case continues on Tuesday.