Bailey is taking advantage of the limelight which he’s done since Sophie’s killing
THE uncle of Sophie Toscan du Plantier believes Ian Bailey is taking “advantage” of the limelight the fresh interest in the case has brought.
This week the 64-year-old was pictured having lunch with singer Sinead O’connor.
They later broke into a war of words, with Mr Bailey saying the star stood him up on a dinner date after allegedly sending him an abusive text following their feisty two-and-a-half-hour interview.
But she dismissed this and insisted the purpose of her meeting Mr Bailey in West Cork was to write about the Sophie murder in a newspaper column.
It was the latest in a series of interviews the English writer has done since the release of two documentaries on Ms du Plantier’s murder.
Jim Sheridan’s five-part Sky show Murder At The Cottage was released earlier this year before Netflix’s Sophie: A Murder In West Cork came out last month.
But Sophie’s uncle Jean-pierre Gazeau insists making the most of the spotlight has always been the case for Mr Bailey, who was the prime suspect for Sophie’s 1996 murder.
I think with series of circumstantial evidence, it is necessary to put him on trial JEAN-PIERRE GAZEAU
YESTERDAY
INTEREST
He told the Irish Mirror:
“He takes advantage. He did it from the very beginning because he became, very fast, the front of the stage.
It has been hard for many, many years.
“It’s a logical consequence of the new media events – two documentaries, three books, the continuation of the podcast.
“Bailey is obviously at the centre of that. He is alive, he likes to appear on the front of the stage.
“It is also a point of interest for tourists going to West Cork to see him. It is in the right line of his psychology.”
Nearly 25 years on from Ms du Plantier’s murder in December 1996 in Schull, West Cork, no one has ever been brought to justice.
The 38-year-old was killed with a concrete block on her driveway, 100 yards from the front door of her holiday home.
Mr Bailey was arrested twice as part of the murder probe but was never charged.
A key part of the Garda investigation were claims by shopkeeper Marie Farrell, who gave a number of statements identifying Mr Bailey outside her shop in a long black coat when Ms du Plantier was inside browsing through clothes.
She then identified Mr Bailey as the man she saw at Kealfadda Bridge, near the French filmmaker’s home on the night of her murder.
Ms Farrell later recanted, claiming she was pressured to identify Mr Bailey.
Earlier this summer, gardai were given
French woman’s family won’t give up on battle for justice
the name of a French man reportedly seen with Ms du Plantier on the afternoon before her murder.
Ms Farrell claims he was the man who was actually standing outside her shop.
It is understood the witness formally identified the man after she was shown a picture of him.
But Mr Gazeau said: “The Garda already did their job.
“I don’t know what can be new now, except the fantasy, 25 years on, of Marie Farrell where she is able to recognise a person after 25 years – I don’t believe that. It’s a fantasy.”
EVIDENCE
Mr Gazeau and his family have not given up hope justice will prevail and his niece’s killer will be caged.
And for them, Mr Bailey – who was convicted of the murder in absentia in France in 2019 – remains the prime suspect. Mr Gazeau said: “There is a lot of circumstantial evidence.
“There is no evidence like DNA, but there is a lot of contradictions.
“There are two possibilities – Ireland accepts responsibility to extradite Bailey to France.
“In that case there would be a new trial, he would have the right to defend himself.
“Or the other possibility is that Ireland takes responsibility to reach a final point which means bringing Bailey to trial to Ireland.
“There is no doubt – there is so much circumstantial evidence.
“I think with this series of circumstantial evidence, it is absolutely necessary to put him on trial.
“We need the truth – we need to know why.”
Mr Bailey has always denied involvement in the murder.