'Fragile' old phone data discovered in Ian Bailey case against the state

The High Court has heard fresh and unexpected phone traffic has been unearthed by the State as it hands over documents Ian Bailey claims will support his allegations of malice against him by the gardaí.

The former journalist is suing over the handling of the investigation into the murder of French film producer Sophie Toscan du Plantier in Schull, Co Cork just before Christmas in 1996.

He was in court today as state lawyers indicated their side have trawled through around 16 thousand documents as part of the discovery process.

They said phone traffic in an old electronic format was unexpectedly discovered in recent weeks.

The court has given the state 4 months to unscramble the data because the technology is obsolete and fragile.

Ian Bailey’s lawyers are seeking a hearing date for the case in the first half of next year.