Bailey tells court he was 'under siege' from paparazzi

Ian Bailey complained he was under siege by paparazzi after his arrest for the murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier and was still under siege everywhere he went.

Mr Bailey, who is suing seven newspapers for linking him to the French woman’s death seven years ago, also complained that a witness told him outside the courtroom today: “I’ve got you now.”

Mr Bailey said there was an incident at lunchtime in the hallway outside the court when Billy Fuller from Schull, Co Cork, made this remark and smirked at the plaintiff.

Judge Patrick J Moran said, “That is a sort of intimidation and it should not happen.”

The defence said on Wednesday that Mr Fuller claimed that in an indirect way Mr Bailey told him he had seen Ms Du Plantier in a supermarket and he was turned on and went to her and she was not interested and it went a lot further than he intended.

Mr Bailey rejected that evidence at the time and yesterday he went further and said, “Everything I have heard attributed to coming out of the mouth of Billy Fuller is garbage.”

Mr Bailey rejected many allegations put to him by the defence, including one where it was alleged that he told a number of people that he had tried to strangle his ex-wife more than 10 years ago.

Another allegation rejected by Mr Bailey alleged that he made cut-throat gestures to a woman to intimidate her about evidence she was giving in the Sophie Toscan Du Plantier case.

A number of times yesterday, Mr Bailey showed the signs of strain at being in the witness box for four days, most of that time under cross-examination.

In relation to the media attention, Paul Gallagher SC said that all of the articles complained of by the plaintiff were written after he had been publicly identified as the suspect and that he had spoken to the media about being a suspect, not least on The Pat Kenny Show on RTE radio.

“From that point on (his arrest for questioning on February 10 1997) I was in a most difficult situation and I did not handle it well. How is an individual supposed to handle media coming at you from all directions?” Mr Bailey said.

Judge Moran said, “I suppose it is difficult for anyone who finds themselves in that position.”