Bailey set to fight failed libel action judgment

ENGLISH journalist Ian Bailey is to appeal against the judgment in his libel trial against eight newspapers, it emerged yesterday.

Mr Bailey, 47, who is already facing a legal bill of €200,000, has until Monday to lodge papers in the High Court Office in Dublin. These papers must also be lodged with the Cork Circuit Court office in Camden Quay, Cork. Any appeal is likely to take at least two weeks.

Mr Bailey’s solicitor Con Murphy refused to comment on the appeal last night. However, Paula Mullooly, a solicitor for Independent Newspapers, confirmed the company had received a notice of appeal yesterday. “As we understand it, he [Ian Bailey] is appealing the fact that he lost the case against Independent Newspapers.

“My client will be taking the same approach as he did in the original case, which is we will be fighting it every step of the way.”

Mr Bailey brought the case to clear his name because he felt coverage of the murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier in West Cork on December 23, 1996, had linked him to the murder.

However, the result was a disaster for Mr Bailey.

Firstly, the judge found the papers had not libelled him in their coverage of the murder.

Secondly, Mr Bailey was left with a legal bill estimated at €200,000. Thirdly, Judge Moran ruled on the balance of probabilities that Mr Bailey did tell a number of people who gave evidence in the case that he had killed Ms du Plantier. That was in spite of strenuous denials of that evidence during the case.

Apart from the damage that the judgment caused Mr Bailey in financial terms and in terms of his reputation, he must also consider whatever implications these findings might have for the civil case being brought against him by members of the late Ms du Plantier’s family.

For Mr Bailey to leave the judgment unchallenged might have repercussions within that civil case. In that sense, Mr Bailey may feel he must appeal the case.

Judge Patrick J Moran ruled at Cork Circuit Court that there was nothing defamatory in the coverage of Mr Bailey which linked him to the murder of Ms Du Plantier.

The judge said the newspapers did not identify him as a murderer, but reported correctly that he was a suspect and they reported his assertions that he had nothing to do with the murder.

Mr Bailey was awarded €8,000 against two newspapers, The Sun and The Mirror, but not for their coverage of the murder of Ms du Plantier. This award followed unsubstantiated reports that he had assaulted his former wife, Sarah Limbrick.

Other than this finding, the judge ruled in favour of the newspapers’ defence and dismissed cases brought by Mr Bailey against The Daily Telegraph, Times, Sunday Times, Sunday Independent, Independent on Sunday and The Star.

Judge Moran expressed the view that Mr Bailey had, on the balance of probabilities, confessed to the murder of Ms du Plantier.

The judge pointed out he was making these findings on the balance of probability, but, crucially, not to the higher criminal standard of beyond a reasonable doubt.

During his judgment, Judge Moran said of Mr Bailey: “He likes a certain amount of notoriety, likes the limelight, likes a bit of self-publicity.”