‘Ian Bailey knew he was dying, he had been told to change his lifestyle’

Murder suspect was on the way to hospital when heart attack struck

IAN Bailey was recently warned by doctors to quit cigarettes and alcohol for three months or else they would not be able to operate on him again, the Irish Mail on Sunday has learned.

The chief suspect in the murder of French filmmaker Sophie Toscan du Plantier was treated in hospital last September after suffering two heart attacks.

Speaking from his bedside at the time, Bailey told the Irish Mail on Sunday that ‘considerable stress and anxiety’ from being linked to the unsolved murder was contributing to his health problems.

Last Sunday the 66-year-old died following a massive heart attack after becoming seriously ill at the rented flat where he lived in the west Cork town of Bantry.

He was attempting to make his way to the local hospital when he collapsed and died close to where his car was parked.

A friend told the MoS: ‘Ian was helped to get into this car when he

‘Once it was over with his ex, Jules, that was it’

got the bang. He was on his way to the hospital… he had been talking about getting stents and had been saying that he was waiting to have a by-pass instead of having stents.

‘But sure, who would do that… wait for a by-pass when you could have stents.

‘He didn’t eat well. He didn’t look after himself. He ate in the local chippers and he never stopped drinking.

‘I think once it was over with Jules [Thomas, Bailey’s former long-term partner] that was it. He didn’t look after himself.’

A photographer who worked with the former journalist on his first assignment – for the now defunct Sunday Tribune – said Bailey knew he did not have long to live.

Billy MacGill said that during what proved to be his last conversation with Bailey two weeks ago the former journalist spoke openly about his failing health.

Mr MacGill told the MoS: ‘The doctor told him that, unless he went off cigarettes and drink for three months and got himself fit, they could not do an operation.

‘I wanted to encourage him to see could he do a little bit of walking. He wasn’t walking at all… he couldn’t walk.

‘I spoke to him about trying to start his first cigarette of the day a bit later and having his glass of wine later in the day.’

Mr MacGill said Bailey told him that his doctor warned: ‘You have to get in shape for the operation and you are not in shape for it’.

He added: ‘He [Bailey] asked me: “How do I get in shape?”, and I said: “You have to start walking and getting in shape.”

‘And he said “I can’t walk”. He hadn’t the ability to walk and [when that happens] you have a reminder every day that you are knackered.’

Bailey died still fearing he would be extradited to France to serve a 25-year jail sentence for Ms Toscan du Plantier’s murder.

He was found guilty in absentia by a French court in 2019 of murdering the French woman, who was brutally bludgeoned to death while on a pre-Christmas break to her isolated west Cork holiday home near Toormore, Goleen, in 1996.

Bailey was arrested twice by gardaí in connection with the unsolved murder, which has since become the subject of a several documentaries and podcasts.

Two French authorities made three separate attempts to have Bailey extradited to France.

Two of the attempts were so he could be questioned about Ms Toscan du Planier’s brutal death.

The last was for him to serve his sentence in France.

Bailey’s solicitor Frank Buttimer told the MoS: ‘Ian always remained concerned at the persistence and the constant attempts by the French State to remove him from Ireland and he had an ongoing fear that another attempt might be made to remove him from the jurisdiction.

‘He and his sister had a good relationship except that it was curtailed by his inability to travel to the UK.’ Bailey moved to Bantry several months ago after his long-time partner Jules Thomas severed their relationship.

Each Friday, he left his social welfare-subsidised flat on Barrack Street – located over a closed-down off-licence – and strolled the fiveminute walk to the town square, where he erected a stall to sell his books of poems and T-shirts emblazoned with his own image.

But Bailey had become so infirm that he had to make the short trip in his distinctive 17-year-old silver Nissan, then shuffled to his spot with the help of a walking stick.

A local recalled: ‘He had his own cult following and he never stopped talking.

‘He would pose with people who wanted their photo taken with him and he sold T-shirts with his face on the T-shirt. He was a vain person.’

However, others feel differently. Last Friday morning, one trader attached a small bunch of flowers to a piece of paper that simply read in green marker: ‘Ian Bailey RIP.’

Bailey was cremated last Tuesday in a brief ceremony with no relatives or friends present.

On Friday, Garda officers raided the flat where Bailey lived out his final days.

But those who knew him believe that nothing of substance will be found among his rambling, incoherent writings and electronic devices.

Mr MacGill added: ‘Ian scribbled all the time and he would jot things down all over the place.

‘I don’t think he would have written sentences, paragraphs and the threads of stories.

‘So I think good luck to them [gardaí]; their cold case will not get any hotter, it will get more confused.’

‘He sold T-shirts with his face on ’