Artist Jules ‘feels nothing’ over loss of former partner
IAN Bailey’s ex-partner Jules Thomas yesterday said she has always known he was innocent of the murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier.
Hearing of his passing, Jules – who stood by murder suspect Bailey through decades of accusations, court cases and stress – said: “I feel nothing. I’ve had no emotional connection with him for quite a long time.”
She added that she was sorry to hear of his death “as I would with anyone I know” but the Welsh-born artist added: “I am not even thinking about him, he’s gone and he isn’t in my thoughts, that’s it.”
Asked whether some may believe her former partner may go to his grave knowing more about his role in the death of Sophie Toscan du Plantier, Jules replied: “Some people get convinced of all sorts of rubbish and I’m not really interested in anything that doesn’t affect me. It isn’t about believing he did it or not, I know he was innocent.
“I knew he couldn’t have done it. The endless attention and speculation is bound to have had an influence on his declining health but that’s all I can say.”
Speaking by telephone from her remote West Cork cottage, Jules, 73, said the ever-present suspicion and interest in Bailey as the prime suspect in the murder must have affected his health in recent years.
She added: “It’s bound to have had an influence.
“I have had no contact whatsoever with him after we parted and he cleared out, but it must have done.” Together for 30 years, Jules came to West Cork from the UK in the early 90s. She met and fell in love with Bailey, who was working in a fish processing plant in Schull at the time.
Their romance bloomed but Bailey later brutally assaulted her and she was left hospitalised for injuries he inflicted.
In March 2021, she finally finished with him, having given up on any future together and told him to get out.
But it took several months before Bailey left her home, seeking accommodation locally that took him to several addresses in Bantry, West Cork in recent years.
Asked if she was sad to hear of the death of Ian, she revealed: “I felt it was the end of the chapter when I left him — really, that was the end of it.
“Once a woman makes up her mind that’s it. You’ve had enough and I’d had enough of Ian before we ever parted.
“He’s gone, he isn’t in my thoughts, that’s it.”
Jules is pursuing a High Court action against Netflix for allegedly violating her space and person during the streaming giant’s filming of its hit documentary series.
She alleges that unauthorised filming took place at her home near Schull, West Cork, and stills of her were also illegally used without her permission.
She said: “Ian’s death has nothing to do with any of this or my determination to carry on with this legal case. It’s chugging along slowly but I will see it through.”
It was the end of the chapter when I left him.. I’d had enough JULES THOMAS WEST CORK YESTERDAY