AS I SEE IT
MARIANNE HERON
The death of chief suspect Ian Bailey for the murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier has stirred up a further storm of questions over the unsolved case. Did Ian Bailey get away with murder as Joe Duffy bluntly asked on Live Line following Bailey’s fatal heart attack?
Whatever the answer, if one is finally found as the cold case investigation instigated in 2022 continues, whatever people believe about Bailey’s innocence or guilt, one thing is certain: Bailey’s life has been a curious pantomime for over a quarter of a century, having been snared in a web of suspicion that entangled his life like a shroud.
Bailey and du Plantier could have come straight out of casting for a murder mystery. English journalist Bailey had the guise of an anti-hero at a powerful 6ft plus with saturnine good looks. French TV producer Toscan du Plantier, beautiful and wealthy, had star quality glamour, factors which together with the ongoing grip of doubt over the truth about the case, fuelled relentless publicity.
So far there have been six books, a podcast series entitled West Cork, two other podcasts, an RTE documentary, a five-part Sky series Murder In The Cottage, produced by Jim Sheridan and Netflix’s Sophie A Murder in West Cork and countless newspaper reports.
I happened to take a home exchange holiday in the remote Toormoore area a few years ago, staying in one of the houses scattered on the hillside where du Plantier bought a holiday home in 1993. It is a beautiful place but the horror of Sophie’s death with her head battered in by a block in an apparent crime passionelle lingered there.
The village of Schull, where Bailey lived with his partner Jules Thomas until they separated in 2021, was a favourite destination on that holiday: a small community where anonymity wouldn’t have hidden Bailey from sidelong glances or pointing fingers.
Bailey, who was never charged for the murder, was one of the first at the initially unsecured crime scene on a laneway leading to the du Plantier property on the morning of December 23, 1996 after the discovery of Sophie’s body, gathering information in his capacity as a journalist. He was subsequently arrested twice, first in the following February, and again in January 1998 but released without charge due to lack of evidence.
An analysis of the Garda evidence in 2021 was critical of the Garda findings and these were held not to warrant a prosecution and a further file submitted to the DPP the following year resulted in the same conclusion. Finally, in 2019 a French court found Bailey guilty of Sophie’s murder in absentia and sentenced him to 25 years imprisonment but the Irish High Court refused to extradite him.
In his attempts to clear his name and to throw off the net of suspicion, Bailey fought a series of legal battles, arming himself with a law degree from UCC in 2010. He took a legal action against eight newspapers in 2003 for linking him to the murder, losing six of them and taking an appeal in the High Court which was dropped in 2007 and taking an action against the State and the Gardaí for wrongful arrest and conspiracy which he lost in 2015.
The action cost him dearly, as he was order to pay costs of between €2-5 million – never mind the toll of ongoing stress.
Despite all the investigations and the court battles the corrosive effect of doubt remains. No conclusive answer has emerged about the murder, though many questions remain unanswered. In what way was the Garda investigation flawed or compromised that caused criticism and didn’t produce enough evidence for prosecution? What really went on with Marie Farrell who claimed she saw Bailey on Kealfadda Bridge on the night of Sophie’s murder but later said that the Gardaí had coerced her into making a false statement?
While Bailey’s back story has been investigated, little is known here about Sophie’s background or any factors which might have been a motive for her murder. Why was Sophie Toscan du Plantier in Ireland for only a couple of days before she planned to return to France for Christmas. Was she there to meet someone?
With Sophie’s family claiming that Bailey’s death has robbed them of justice and as the cold case investigation continues, aided by new DNA techniques, the ultimate irony would be if the late Ian Bailey is eventually found to be innocent.
