Gardaí - probe into Sophie’s death is ‘active and ongoing’

GARDAÍ have said the the investigation into the 1996 murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier in West Cork remains “active and ongoing”.

This follows the sudden death of Ian Bailey, who had described himself as the prime suspect in the case, and who ed away on Sunday in Bantry following a suspected heart attack.

“The Garda investigation onto the murder of Sophie Toscan de Plantier in 1996 remains active and ongoing, as does assistance from the Garda Serious Crime Review Team,” a Garda spokesperson said.

The years leading up to Mr Bailey’s death had been steeped in controversy due to his suspected involvement in the Toscan du Plantier case. He was sentenced in absentia to 25 years in jail by a French court in 2019 for the murder.

Ms Toscan du Plantier’s uncle, Jean Pierre Gazeau, said Mr Bailey, who had always denied any involvement in her death, “never faced legal consequences” in Ireland.

High Court

In October 2020, the High Court in Ireland rejected an attempt by French authorities to extradite Mr Bailey for the murder. The court ruled that he would not be surrendered to after a European Arrest Warrant was issued in 2019.

Mr Gazeau said his family were certain of Mr Bailey’s guilt because of his conviction in a French court, adding there were so many “circumstantial evidences” tying him to her death.

“Ian Bailey remained free in Ireland,” he told RTÉ Radio. “He never faced legal consequences in that country. He constantly refused to answer questions from French investigators from the judge. He tied himself in lies, omissions, contradictions before Irish investigators.

“I think the cold case team’s investigation in Ireland should continue because there is a strong possibility to have new evidence coming from DNA researchers with this new system of investigation.”

He also said that Mr Bailey attempted to him a number of times.

“We always refused to establish a direct with Ian Bailey. This is a matter of justice. When someone is accused of murder, I think the most important thing is to have normal a relationship between that person, which is considered a suspect, and the police.

“It’s not normal to have a direct communication between the suspect and the family of the victim.”

Meanwhile, Mr Bailey’s solicitor, Frank Buttimer, expressed doubt about whether the murder suspect’s name will ever be cleared following his sudden death.

Speaking on RTÉ Radio 1, Mr Buttimer described Mr Bailey, a University College Cork law graduate, as a “complicated” individual.

He described their first encounter.

“He came into my office. At that point of time, he was the principal suspect in relation to the crime. He had heard of me in some other context and just came in and spoke to me. He had his own solicitor at the time. I met him and spoke to him and my immediate reaction was that he was in no way involved in this particular crime. I did say to him that if he was ever prosecuted, I would represent him. That transpired never to be necessary.”

He acknowledged Mr Bailey’s interest in the limelight.

“He did not describe himself as a self-declared prime suspect. He became that because he described himself as the prime suspect. He then became this very convenient thing called the self-confessed prime suspect which was an ideal status for the police to attribute to him. It was as if he was portraying himself as a prime suspect on this confessional basis. The police in Ireland knew that they did not have sufficient evidence to put him on trial and knew that there were fundamental flaws with the evidence they had generated which was quite frankly a puff of smoke. This was subsequently determined by the review that was carried out initially by the DPP as far back as 1997.”

Frustrating

Mr Buttimer itted he found Mr Bailey’s reaction to public attention frustrating at times.

“The whole perception of Ian Bailey was generated by himself in the manner in which he spoke about his own case and his own circumstances,” he said. “It really didn’t help him.

“Different people react in different ways to circumstances. The circumstances which he found himself in were very challenging for him. It was really hard to process what was going on. It turned into a spiral of mental problems that he had with regard to what had been done to him and his method of reaction. Sometimes he became proactive instead of reactive. The proactive element I found difficult but I always understood it.”

The solicitor cast doubt over whether the case will ever be solved.

“The reality is that he always wanted that to happen but he died before it ever would have happened. I suppose there’s a possibility, like with anything else in life, but with the age of time it is very hard to see that somebody will be identified and prosecuted.”

The ex-partner of Ian Bailey spoke to The Echo yesterday about the “appalling” public abuse that haunted the former couple.

Jules Thomas, an artist, had ed Mr Bailey after he was accused of Sophie Toscan du Plantier’s murder.

Mr Bailey and Ms Thomas finally parted ways in 2021 after 30 years together. She had stood by him after the murder conviction in in 2019.

Despite itting to feeling “nothing” following Mr Bailey’s death, Ms Thomas said her experiences had taken their toll.

Torment

She spoke about the torment she experienced after her then-partner first became a suspect in the case.

“Back in the early days, we had all sorts of ghastly things going on. It was appalling,” she told The Echo. “The knock-on effect was my family not wanting to visit because of the shame really. They didn’t want to be connected for years. They’re okay now, but for years I missed out on young grandchildren and other important stuff. I mean it’s awful, absolutely awful.”

Ms Thomas said the loneliness that followed the speculation around Mr Bailey was difficult.

“I don’t think a lot of people have the ability to mentally transport themselves into the reality of the situation. Much of it just goes straight over their heads. This is just another story to them.”

Ms Thomas said she will likely never find peace after the experience. She said she does her best not to dwell on cruel comments.

“I think something changes in your life and you can’t go back on it really,” she said. “What I do is try and put it out of my mind altogether. I don’t dwell on it because that’s the only way of keeping my mind healthy.”

Ms Thomas had been in the process of writing a book about her experiences before Mr Bailey’s death and hopes to complete the project with the help of a ghost writer.

The funeral of Mr Bailey is expected to take place in West Cork in the coming days.