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| UK former journalist to be extradited to France over film-maker murder | UK former journalist to be extradited to France over film-maker murder |
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| Dublin high court endorses arrest warrant for Ian Bailey 23 years after killing of Sophie Toscan du Plantier in west Cork | |
| Ian Bailey, a British former journalist, faces extradition from Ireland to France where he faces 25 years in prison for allegedly murdering the French film-maker Sophie Toscan du Plantier. | |
| Bailey, 62, was arrested and bailed on Monday after the high court in Dublin endorsed a European arrest warrant issued by a Paris court, the latest twist in a famous cold case that has divided public and legal opinion. | |
| As a condition of bail he must surrender his passport while the extradition process unfolds, with the next hearing slated for 20 January. | |
| Bailey has vehemently denied any involvement in killing du Plantier, whose bludgeoned body was discovered near her holiday home in west Cork on 23 December 1996. | Bailey has vehemently denied any involvement in killing du Plantier, whose bludgeoned body was discovered near her holiday home in west Cork on 23 December 1996. |
| The former freelancer, who used to run a small news agency in Cheltenham that supplied stories to the Sunday Times, lives in a cottage three miles from the scene and filed articles on the crime until becoming the prime suspect, a label that has stuck for 23 years. | The former freelancer, who used to run a small news agency in Cheltenham that supplied stories to the Sunday Times, lives in a cottage three miles from the scene and filed articles on the crime until becoming the prime suspect, a label that has stuck for 23 years. |
| Irish prosecutors long ago decided there was insufficient evidence to press charges but in May a French court convicted and sentenced Bailey in absentia to 25 years in prison, prompting a fresh extradition attempt. Irish authorities had rejected two previous extradition attempts. | Irish prosecutors long ago decided there was insufficient evidence to press charges but in May a French court convicted and sentenced Bailey in absentia to 25 years in prison, prompting a fresh extradition attempt. Irish authorities had rejected two previous extradition attempts. |
| Baileys’ lawyers objected to the warrant’s endorsement on the grounds the high court had already ruled against a second extradition attempt by the French in 2017, deeming it an abuse of process. Endorsing a third warrant would expose Mr Bailey to another abuse of process, his lawyers said. | |
| Lawyers for the state argued that the law had changed since the 2017 decision and that in the meantime Bailey had been convicted of murder at a trial in France. | |
| Mr Justice Donald Binchy said he was satisfied the warrant should be endorsed and said the court would schedule a full extradition hearing later. | |
| Jim Kirwan, a police sergeant, told the court that when he arrested Bailey the former journalist said: “I just want to say I had nothing to do with this crime.” Bailey was released on bail on his own bond of €15,000 pending the full hearing in the new year. | |
| A media scrum awaited Bailey when he emerged from court. “I was arrested and bailed and I’m out,” he told the Guardian. “I’m not making any comment right now.” | |
| Irish detectives who investigated the murder of du Plantier were convinced of Bailey’s guilt. He had cuts on his face and hands, a record of violence against his partner, Jules Thomas, and admitted to having left his cottage – to an adjacent shed to write an article, he said – on the night of the murder. | |
| However, there was no forensic evidence linking Bailey to the scene and a key witness retracted testimony, saying police had improperly pressured her. | |
| After Irish prosecutors declined to press press charges French authorities transplanted the case to Paris, where it was heard by three judges. Under French law a person suspected of murdering a French citizen in another jurisdiction can be tried in France. | After Irish prosecutors declined to press press charges French authorities transplanted the case to Paris, where it was heard by three judges. Under French law a person suspected of murdering a French citizen in another jurisdiction can be tried in France. |
| Du Plantier’s relatives led a campaign for Bailey’s extradition. In May, her son Pierre-Louis Baudey-Vignaud visited county Cork and made an emotional address from a church pulpit, saying his mother was not a ghost. “She is the victim of human cruelty and violence which has no place here.” He urged witnesses to attend the trial. | |
| The family called the guilty verdict a victory for truth and justice. | |
| Bailey, who ekes a living selling art, poetry and pizzas in west Cork, did not attend, calling the trial a farce. “All they’ve done is convict an innocent man who had nothing to do with the crime,” he said at the time. “All they’ve got is a pyrrhic victory.” | |
| A 13-part podcast titled West Cork has shone new light on the case. The director Jim Sheridan is making a documentary. |