Ian Bailey did not appear to be a “very troubled individual” when reciting a poem for a video of the Christmas Day swim in Schull in 1996, a local woman told the High Court.

The State has called its first witness for its defence of the High Court action for damages brought by journalist Ian Bailey over the conduct of the investigation into the late 1996 murder in West Cork of Sophie Toscan du Plantier.

A detective garda said he was sending a "down and out" to journalist Ian Bailey’s home to get Mr Bailey "drunk and high" and to "confess" on tape, Marie Farrell has told a High Court jury.