Former DPP tells of garda charge bid
Mr Barnes said he “took exception” to this because it represented the gardaí taking an “extra step” and going “further than normal” in relation to putting pressure on with a view to preferring charges.
Mr Barnes, who was DPP between 1975 and 1999, said he took the DPP office’s independence in the exercise of its functions seriously. His considered opinion was there was not enough evidence to warrant a prosecution of Mr Bailey.
Mr Barnes was giving evidence in Mr Bailey’s civil action against the Garda Commissioner and State who deny wrongful arrest and conspiracy over the conduct of the investigation into the murder of Ms du Plantier whose body was found at Toormore, Schull, on December 23, 1996.
Mr Barnes said he was concerned when Malachy Boohig told him in 1998 he was asked by a senior Garda to ask the Minister for Justice to get the DPP to charge Mr Bailey.
It was not “remarkable” for gardaí to put pressure on the office, but he took exception to this “extra step” of seeking to get the minister involved.
There was a “lot of attempted persuasion” to cause him to take the view a prosecution of Mr Bailey was warranted and he knew the gardaí were very anxious Mr Bailey should be prosecuted, he told Tom Creed SC, for Mr Bailey.
While he was concerned about what Mr Boohig said, he was also concerned it might create difficulties for Mr Boohig’s dealings with gardaí and let the matter rest until 2011 when, while on holidays, he read a newspaper article about a bid by the French authorities to extradite Mr Bailey.
Mr Barnes said he did not know the extent to which the manner of approach of the gardaí was relevant to the extradition. After a lot of “anxious thought”, he later expressed his anxiety to the DPP’s office and said he felt the matter should be directed to the Attorney General.
The then DPP, James Hamilton, asked him to put his concerns in writing and he sent an email to Mr Hamilton in 2011 which reflected his memory of events at that time.
That email said he was not absolutely confident of the accuracy of his recollection of some details but was clear Mr Boohig had phoned him asking if he could discuss a matter he did not want to discuss on the phone.
The email said Mr Boohig had said he wanted to inform Mr Barnes of a conversation he had had about the du Plantier case.
The email said Mr Boohig told Mr Barnes he attended a conference with gardaí about the case after which he was followed out by the local Chief Supt “who was Dwyer or O’Dwyer”, who asked him if he had been at school with John O’Donoghue.
In his email, Mr Barnes said he was confident he and Mr Boohig had agreed the evidence came nowhere near warranting a charge against Mr Bailey.
The case continues on Tuesday next.
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