IAN Bailey is calling on Garda Commissioner Drew Harris to reopen the case of the brutal murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier on December 23rd 1996.
Speaking exclusively to The Southern Star, Mr Bailey, who was convicted of the murder in absentia at a trial in Paris in May 2019, said that his life has been ruined.
‘I am writing a letter to the Garda Commissioner Drew Harris to once again look at this whole case and to reinvestigate it, as my life has been absolutely tortured by a false narrative. This has ruined my life, it has completely tortured me, it has tortured Jules [his ex partner] and it led to the breakdown of our relationship,’ Ian Bailey said this week.
‘The case should be re-investigated. This has been perpetuated deliberately to put me in the frame for a crime I had nothing to do with. This is the darkest stain on the good name of An Garda Síochána.’
A new episode of the popular Audible podcast West Cork which was released last Friday has focused, once again, the media spotlight on the murder. Bailey said the producers have told the story well. ‘Sam [Bungey] and Jennifer [Forde] did a very professional job. The trial in Paris was a bonfire on a pyre of lies, it was a witch hunt, a show trial. There was a total lack of any real evidence, and I think that came across quite clearly in the episode of the podcast.’
‘I knew there was forensic evidence that was indicative of the fact that I wasn’t involved, but the fact that there was male DNA found on a boot, I never knew that. This is a matter I will raise with the Commissioner. There needs to be a thorough re-investigation.’
‘Sam and Jennifer have been very good and did a very professional job. I’ve trusted a few people throughout this whole thing, and they never broke this trust, neither did Jim Sheridan,’ he said, referring to the Irish director of the documentary Murder at the Cottage, due to be shown shortly on Sky TV.
‘Other people have broken this trust, for no other reason than for financial gain.’
Ian Bailey also said he believed the Sheridan documentary would be broadcast on Sky soon, despite Sky pulling back from the original May 9th screening date.
Sky TV told The Southern Star last week that the documentary had been delayed due to ‘scheduling problems.’
‘It will be broadcast later this month I understand, I believe there was a legal issue, but I don’t know what that was.’
Meanwhile, it was reported this week that the Netflix series on the case, Sophie: A Murder in West Cork, will begin streaming from June 30th.
