Bailey complains over suspicions of phone tapping

Ian Bailey has made a formal complaint that his phone could have been tapped for 16 years since he first became the prime suspect for the murder of French film-maker Sophie Toscan du Plantier in west Cork in 1996.

Mr Bailey claims a suspected bugging device that was attached to a telephone pole around 200 metres from his home outside Schull, Co Cork, was removed recently after he notified the authorities about his concerns.

Mr Bailey and his partner, Jules Thomas, have lodged an application to Judge Carroll Moran to investigate fears their phone equipment has been regularly tapped over a prolonged period.

The Circuit Court judge acts as the “complaints referee” who is responsible for investigating whether a lawful request has been made by the security authorities to monitor a person’s phone, email, or internet activity.

Under legislation, a warrant must be obtained by gardaí to intercept a suspect’s phone or other telecommunications on foot of a request made to a judge and the Minister for Justice by the Garda Commissioner.

If Judge Moran finds that Mr Bailey’s telephone was intercepted illegally, he will be obliged to inform him of the findings as well as to send a report on the matter to Taoiseach Enda Kenny.

In some cases, people whose telephone has been accessed without lawful authorisation may also be entitled to financial compensation.

Mr Bailey’s solicitor, Frank Buttimer, confirmed last night that Judge Moran had agreed to examine his client’s complaint.

“Mr Bailey has had concern about his phones for years but the ability to air such a complaint has only come with the emergence of other evidence into the public domain,” said Mr Buttimer.

Mr Bailey has also expressed concern that a silver box was removed from a telephone pole on private land a short distance from his home since last Friday.

If true, the allegation of phone-tapping could represent another major embarrassment for An Garda Síochána, whose handling of the case over the years has been criticised by the Toscan du Plantier family, among others.

The family of the French film-maker have recently urged gardaí to carry out a cold case review into the murder of the 39-year-old mother at her isolated holiday home at Dreenane, Toormore, near Schull, Co Cork, on Dec 23, 1996.

Her parents, Georges and Marguerite Bouniol, made a formal written request to the Garda Serious Crime Review Team to re-examine all files on the case.

The family has also lodged a formal complaint against the State to the European Commission over the Supreme Court’s refusal to extradite Mr Bailey to France earlier this year.

An inquiry by a French magistrate, Judge Patrick Gachon, had sought to question 54-year-old Mr Bailey about Ms Toscan du Plantier’s violent death.

In turn, Mr Bailey, who graduated from UCC with a law degree in recent years, is suing the State for wrongful arrest.