Court asked to quash judge stand on contempt

The Court of Appeal has been urged to quash a High Court judge’s refusal to withdraw from hearing contempt proceedings brought against The Phoenix magazine by the garda commissioner and State.

The contempt proceedings arise from two articles related to the failed civil action by Ian Bailey over the conduct of the garda investigation into the 1996 murder in West Cork of French film maker Sophie Toscan du Plantier.

Mr Bailey’s action opened before a High Court jury in November 2014. The first Phoenix article was published six weeks earlier on September 26. The second was published in May 2015, two months after the jury rejected Mr Bailey’s claim certain gardaí conspired to frame him for the murder.