A retired detective has denied he and other gardaí were convinced of Ian Bailey's guilt during the early stages of the investigation into the murder of Sophie Toscan Du Plantier in 1996.
Jim Fitzgerald also denied that everything was construed to point towards his guilt rather than his innocence.
Mr Fitzgerald has been giving evidence in Mr Bailey's case against An Garda Síochána and the State for wrongful arrest.
He said it was not inconceivable that gardaí could have got things spectacularly wrong in an investigation but that had not happened in this case.
He denied he was prejudiced against Mr Bailey and said gardaí had a reasonable suspicion of him.
Mr Fitzgerald also denied spreading stories about Mr Bailey being a dangerous man who would kill again in an effort to heighten fear and drum up evidence against him.
He said he did not have any dealings with Mr Bailey during the early part of the investigation and had not spoken to him.
Counsel for Mr Bailey Tom Creed said there was evidence of Mr Fitzgerald calling Mr Bailey names and referring to him as "that bollocks Bailey" during taped telephone conversations.
During cross-examination it was put to him that it was "inconceivable that gardaí could have got it spectacularly wrong" in this case.
He agreed there were other cases where gardaí had got things wrong such as the McBrearty case in Donegal. However, he said in this case Mr Bailey had not been charged.
He said he was not prejudiced against Mr Bailey and had no dealings with him in the early part of the investigation. He said he had in fact nominated another man in France as a suspect after hearing about an acrimonious relationship.
Mr Fitzgerald also denied the witness Marie Farrell was so frightened of her husband finding out about where she was on the night of the murder that a man she saw "turned into Ian Bailey".
He denied he was at the forefront of garnering anything that would show Mr Bailey in a bad light.
He said: "I completely reject that. The investigation was carried out in a normal fashion."
He also denied ignoring everything that may have pointed to Mr Bailey's innocence and driving on with anything that may have pointed to his guilt.
A garda described an allegation by Ms Farrell that he harassed her teenage son and called him names after her relationship with the gardaí had soured as "complete fabrication".
Garda Anthony Finn said he had always dealt with Mrs Farrell and her family in a professional way and had nothing to do with her relationship with other gardaí who were involved in the murder investigation.
Court told of 'case of mistaken identity'
At the High Court this morning Gda Finn outlined his dealings with one of Ms Farrell's older sons for driving offences.
He said he also mistakenly called her younger son "a bollocks" in case of mistaken identity.
He said he called out from behind, believing him to be someone else and immediately apologised.
He later called to the Farrell home to apologise again after Ms Farrell complained.
Gda Finn agreed that it would have been big news around Schull when Ms Farrell retracted her statements about Mr Bailey and it would have affected what the gardaí had been saying about Mr Bailey.
However, he said he had nothing to do with her relationship with other gardaí and could not comment on whether or not the relationship had soured.
He said he always dealt with the Farrells in a professional way.
He denied there was context to her allegations against him and that there was more than one incident.
When Ms Farrell complained about him he insisted it be investigated independently, he said, but Mrs Farrell later withdrew her complaint to the then Garda Complaints Board.
It was put to him that Ms Farrell had made a complaint after her 13-year-old son had said he wanted to throw himself off the rocks in Schull because he couldn't take any more hassle from that garda.
Gda Finn said Ms Farrell had never mentioned this in her complaint.
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