Ex-garda ‘never gave cannabis to man’

An ex-garda has told the High Court he never gave cannabis to a man in the hope of getting Ian Bailey to “loosen his tongue” in relation to the murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier.

Jim Fitzgerald, now retired, said another garda gave Martin Graham small amounts of cash and clothes on occasions after Mr Graham said he was prepared to assist gardaí because he had concerns about things Mr Bailey said in a friend’s house on the night of February 10, 1997, when Mr Bailey had been released after his first arrest.

Former detective garda Mr Fitzgerald said he himself also gave Mr Graham some small cash sums.

There was a special “secret service” fund availabe to chief superintendents for small monetary expenses of informants, he said. Mr Graham, at one point, said he would need €4,000 to get certain information but that was rejected “out of hand” by superiors.

Mr Graham also gave gardaí a prescription bottle sticker with Mr Bailey’s name on it and, when told that was no use, Mr Graham replied, “You know what use you can make of it”, he said. He believed Mr Graham was inferring gardaí should put the paper somewhere, such as the murder scene.

Mr Graham did not give much information adverse to Mr Bailey but separately provided useful information that led to drug seizures, he added.

Mr Fitzgerald said he was not in Skibbereen on May 13, 1997, when Mr Graham was photographed exiting a Garda car with a plastic bag containing a substance alleged to be cannabis and had not supplied Mr Graham with cannabis.

Mr Fitzgerald said he was in a Garda car with Mr Graham on other occasions when Mr Graham was dropped at that spot in the town and Mr Graham had left the Garda car for brief periods on some occasions before returning to it.

He learned, in about May 1997, that Mr Graham was recording conversations with gardaí and was suspicious that Mr Graham was trying to set gardaí up.

Having been advised by a superior to protect himself, he arranged in May 1997 for recordings to be made of conversations with Mr Graham in the Garda car.

He was also suspicious Mr Graham was trying to compromise gardaí by having a substance in his possession and arranged in June 1997 to meet him and have two other detectives nearby who would search him.