Articles defamatory - plaintiff

Mr Ian Bailey told a court yesterday that newspaper articles with headlines such as "Devil in the hills" and "Sophie man's shame" were defamatory and associated him with the murder of Ms Sophie Toscan du Plantier.

Seven articles were examined at Cork Circuit Court, from the Irish Mirror, the Irish Sun, the Sunday Independent, the Independent on Sunday, the Times, the Sunday Times and the Star, published following Mr Bailey's arrest on February 10th, 1997.

Mr Bailey objected to an article by Mr John Kearns in the Irish Mirror, on February 14th, 1997, which included a claim that someone saw Mr Bailey "washing his Wellington boots in a stream a mile from the French beauty's house on the night she was murdered".

Mr Bailey said there was no evidence to suggest he did such a thing, and that he never left the house on the night of the murder.

Mr Paul Gallagher SC, for the newspaper, however, said a local shopkeeper had made the allegation in a Garda statement.

Mr Bailey also complained about another article, by Ms Brighid McLaughlin in the Sunday Independent, which stated that in the days after the murder, he may have burnt clothes which he had claimed were stained with turkey blood.

It also said he received scratches to his arms and face following the night of Ms Toscan du Plantier's murder.

Mr Bailey, however, said he received scratches while cutting down a Christmas tree and rejected claims that he either left the house on the night of the murder or burned any clothes.

He said he only left the house in the morning to go to the studio on the grounds of the house and that it was still dark at this hour of the day.

Mr Bailey also said the comments he made to the journalist were on an "off the record" basis, yet had been printed in the newspaper.

"I was talking to her off the record, one journalist assisting another, and I told her I would also make one statement [for publication]," he said.

The article appeared in another form on April 26th, 1998, in the Independent on Sunday, under the headline, "Devil in the hills".

Mr Bailey objected to the headline which, he said, was defamatory and tried to cast him as sort of devil figure. "What do you think people's perception of me would be?" he asked.

The court heard that this headline referred to a quote by Mr Daniel Toscan du Plantier, Ms Toscan du Plantier's husband, at the time about his belief that there was "a devil living in the hills" of west Cork.

Mr Bailey also said he was unhappy with an article in the Star, on February 22nd, which included details about his relationship with his former wife, particularly after giving an interview for a "sympathetic piece" to journalist, Mr Senan Moloney.

However, Mr Gallagher said the interview with Mr Moloney had taken place on February 12th, and a sympathetic article under the headline, "I did not kill Sophie", was published the next day.

Mr Bailey agreed that this article contained the views he expressed to Mr Moloney at the time.

Mr Bailey also objected to articles in the Sun on February 14th, under the headline, "Sophie man's shame". He insisted that he had never met Ms Toscan du Plantier and that he was not "Sophie's man". He also objected to an article in the Sunday Times on February 16th, under the headline, "Murder suspect has no alibi". He said he did not need an alibi as he was not charged with anything.

He also complained of an article in the Daily Telegraph, which said the killer was motivated by rejection of a film script by Ms Toscan Du Plantier.

Mr Bailey accepted that while the article did not name a specific killer, it went on to provide details which could only be about him.