Question as to who pays legal costs still has to be sorted out

THE question as to who will pay thousands of euro in legal costs following the Ian Bailey libel hearing still has to be decided.

Bailey was awarded €8,000 after the Mirror and the Sun claimed he beat his former wife Sarah Limbrick.

However, he lost six out of eight libel claims and could be forced to pick up a huge legal bill, despite his €8,000 award.

Mr Bailey also claimed he was libelled by the Star; the Sunday Independent; the Independent on Sunday; the Times; the Sunday Times and the Daily Telegraph.

Early discussions have already taken place about the costs and they will be finalised on February 12 next.

Bailey had sued each newspaper for the maximum Circuit Court damages of €38,000.

“Because he lost claims against six papers he may not get to keep the €8,000 for very long when all the costs are sorted out,” one legal expert said last night. It’s believed the eight newspapers chalked up legal bills of about 600,000 fighting Bailey’s libel action.

The defence hired top senior counsel Paul Gallagher, who was assisted by David Holland BL.

Mr Gallagher cross-examined Bailey for five of the 10 days of the hearing.

Bailey’s counsel was Jim Duggan BL and his solicitor was Con Murphy. It’s believed Bailey’s own legal costs will hit €100,000.

During the libel hearing, 26 witnesses gave evidence, including some of Bailey’s neighbours in Schull, who claimed he admitted to killing Sophie Du Plantier in December 1996. In the past, people who lost big libel cases were ordered to pay massive legal costs.

When a jury found that Fianna Fáil TD Beverly Cooper-Flynn’s character had not been damaged by an RTÉ news report, she was ordered to pay around €2.5m in costs.

Other big payouts included The Sunday Times having to hand over €84,000 to John Waters after he claimed his reputation as a father was maligned by columnist Terry Keane.

Waters was also awarded his costs in the case, which ran to €250,000.