Bailey neighbours deny intimidation claims

FURIOUS neighbours of Ian Bailey and his partner Jules Thomas yesterday denied they were behind a campaign of intimidation against the couple in their West Cork home.

Ms Thomas has complained to gardaí about intimidation against her and Mr Bailey at their cottage home in Schull.

Neighbours were angry yesterday as artist Ms Thomas accused some locals of behaving in a “menacing manner” following Monday’s circuit court decision, in which Mr Bailey lost six of eight claims of defamation against Irish and British newspapers arising out of articles relating to the murder of French woman Sophie Toscan du Plantier.

Suggesting that her home in the townland of the Prairie, near Schull, was under siege, an agitated Ms Thomas said: “I am sick because of the trouble we are having here at night. Some people have been coming around here shining bright torchlights on the house.

“They are flashing them all over the place in a menacing manner.”

Gardaí yesterday said it was their policy not to comment on complaints from members of the public.

Ms Thomas said she did not attend the court this week as she had felt unwell.

Insisting she and her partner were totally exhausted by events of recent weeks, she said ex-freelance journalist Mr Bailey did not return to the cottage after the court hearing, in which he was awarded €8,000 damages.

“He thought it would be safer if he stayed out of the way,” she said.

However, neighbour David Perry said yesterday people in the locality were furious with Mr Bailey and Ms Thomas. “I would vehemently reject any claims that locals are conducting a campaign of intimidation against them. They have brought this on themselves.

“I have been living here for five years and I can honestly say that most people in this locality have maintained a dignified and polite indifference towards them. It’s the locals who are angry and scared. There was a time when people here did not lock their doors. Now, if someone came knocking on my door late at night, even if it was a garda, I would not open it. I would feel frightened.

“All I can say,” he said, “and I think I’m speaking on behalf of many locals, is that it’s not the neighbours of Mr Bailey or Ms Thomas that could be accused of being malicious, nasty, calculated and cold.”

Skibbereen-based Peter Bielecki, a former friend of Mr Bailey, said he and other witnesses enjoyed a sense of relief that the judge accepted their evidence in the December libel trial.

“At this stage, people in the area have just had enough. They just want to enjoy again the West Cork they all knew and loved before this terrible tragedy,” he said.