Internal review withheld from Bailey’s lawyers

AN internal review containing serious criticisms of the prosecution case against Ian Bailey was withheld from his legal team until recent weeks despite being requested of the Director of Public Prosecutions more than a year ago.

The contents of the review, carried out by the DPP’s office in 2001, will be used by Mr Bailey as the basis for asking the Supreme Court this week to order that his High Court extradition hearing be reheard.

In March this year, the High Court ordered that Mr Bailey could be extradited to France where authorities want to question him in relation to the murder of French film producer, Sophie Toscan du Plantier, who was found beaten to death in West Cork 15 years ago this month.

His legal team lodged an appeal against the decision to the Supreme Court which was due to hear the case in the next few weeks but they now want a complete rehearing of the High Court case.

Among the issues that will be raised when they make this request to the Supreme Court on Friday will be the withholding of the review which they say would have influenced the outcome of the extradition hearing.

It is understood that the DPP’s office received a request from Mr Bailey’s team during the summer of last year for all outstanding documentation relating to the Garda case against him and the DPP’s own decision not to charge him in relation to Ms Toscan du Plantier’s death.

The DPP is under no obligation to explain his decisions and replied to this effect, but the Supreme Court will be asked to consider why there was a sudden change of policy just weeks before Mr Bailey’s potential extradition from Ireland.

Details of the review document leaked at the weekend restate concerns previously publicly highlighted about the failure to adequately preserve the murder scene in the crucial hours after Ms Toscan du Plantier’s body was found and the flawed forensic investigation that followed.

But it also casts further doubts on the reliability of witnesses and, more dramatically, it contains evidence that gardaí sought to influence what is legally required to be an independent decision of the DPP whether or not to press charges.

One claim in the review is that state solicitor for west Cork Malachy Boohig was approached by gardaí urging him to consider the pressure they were under to nail a suspect and to use his acquaintance with then justice minister John O’Donoghue to ensure the DPP pressed charges.

According to the review, Mr Boohig was concerned by these improper approaches and he raised them with then DPP Eamonn Barnes. Mr Barnes retired in 1999, to be replaced by James Hamilton, who retired in recent weeks, so the Bailey case file is now before its third director, Claire Loftus.

Mr Boohig said he could not comment on the case while it was still before the courts. Mr Bailey’s solicitor, Frank Buttimer, also declined to comment in advance of Friday’s hearing.

If the Supreme Court decides not to refer the extradition issue for rehearing in the High Court when it sits on Friday, it must still proceed with the appeal, most likely on the previously set date of January 16, but it will not be able to consider the contents of the review as it can only examine evidence presented in the original High Court hearing.