VIDEO: Public likely to pay Ian Bailey bill

Ian Bailey is likely to leave the taxpayer with a bill for millions of euro after losing his High Court case against the State.

The former journalist, who failed to prove there was a conspiracy to set him up for the still unsolved murder of French filmmaker Sophie Toscan du Plantier, is unemployed and, although potentially liable for the legal costs, has no means to pay them.

Costs for the 64-day hearing are expected to exceed €5m, but the case was initiated seven years ago and there were multiple court appearances before the full hearing got under way, so the final bill could be much higher.

Mr Justice John Hedigan adjourned the matter of costs for a fortnight for mention, although it is expected to take months to decide how the bill should be met.

Mr Bailey has three weeks to lodge an appeal against yesterday’s verdict, but he gave no indication as to what his next step would be. Speaking on his behalf, his solicitor, Frank Buttimer, said his client needed time to consider his options.

“He is obviously very disappointed with the outcome. He gave this case his very best effort. He thought, and still does in fact think, that he had sufficient evidence to sway the jury in his favour,” said Mr Buttimer.

“However, he has a deep and abiding respect for the Irish legal system. He appreciates the fact that the jury gave this case the attention that it did give the case and that is to be acknowledged.”

The verdict from the jury of seven men and four women came after just two hours of deliberations. Late in the trial, Judge Hedigan had ruled that Mr Bailey’s claims for wrongful arrest had been lodged too late — outside the normal six-year time limit — and also that his claims for damage to his reputation could only be made in a defamation case so the jury was left to consider only the actions of named gardaí in collecting evidence against him from key witness Marie Farrell.

They decided that the gardaí had not tried to influence her statements to implicate Mr Bailey in the murder of Ms Toscan du Plantier, who was found beaten to death outside her holiday home at Toormore, Schull, West Cork, in December 1996.

Ms Farrell may face investigation for perjury after Judge Hedigan said he would send the transcripts of her evidence during the trial to the Director of Public Prosecutions “for consideration by her of whatever action she thinks is appropriate”.

Judge Hedigan reserved his final words for Ms Sophie Toscan du Plantier, whom he described as a “beloved wife, daughter, and mother”. He said he did not want it thought that she was forgotten during the trial.

“Throughout this long and difficult case, there has always been the shadow of Madame Sophie Toscan du Plantier and her tragic and senseless death,” said the judge. “It is a source of dismay and anguish in Ireland and France that her cruel killer has not been brought to justice. One can only hope that one day justice will be done.”

Senior gardaí welcomed the verdict in the case. John Redmond, general secretary of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors, said: “The fact the jury found there was no conspiracy, that’s important for the reputation of the Garda organisation.”

However, he added that there were no winners in the case, as it centred on a murder that remained unsolved. “The members work very, very hard to bring perpetrators to justice and to gather evidence where they can and that will continue in this case,” he said.

“They will still aim to solve that case. It’s not going to stop, this won’t go away. There needs to be closure for the family The professional police officers of Ireland are going to work very hard to bring that closure.”

Mr Bailey, 57, who is originally from England, was living in Schull at the time of the murder and initially wrote articles for national newspapers about the investigation before he emerged as a suspect. He was arrested twice in connection with Ms Toscan du Plantier’s death but never charged.

He successfully fought attempts by the French authorities to have him extradited to France to stand trial there, but previous outings to court have not been fruitful and he lost libel cases against numerous newspapers over articles written about him.

His case against the Garda commissioner, the minster for justice, and the attorney general, claiming conspiracy to set him up for the murder, was initiated in May 2007.

Throughout all the proceedings, he has been accompanied by his partner, Jules Thomas.

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