Ian Bailey, suspect for Sophie Toscan du Plantier’s murder, dies aged 66
Ian Bailey relaxing on the pier in Schull, West Cork. Picture Dan Linehan
Ian Bailey, the man convicted in France of the murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier, has died at the age of 66.
The 66-year-old collapsed on Barrack Street in Bantry in west Cork at lunchtime today and efforts by medics to save his life failed.
The self-styled poet was removed from the scene as passers looked on.
His death follows two heart attacks last September.
The body of Ms Toscan du Plantier, 39, was found badly beaten outside her holiday home in Schull, West Cork, in December 1996.
In 2019, Mr Bailey was convicted in absentia by a court in Paris of the murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier in 1996.
He has always denied her murder.
In October 2020, the High Court in Ireland rejected an attempt by French authorities to extradite Mr Bailey for the murder.
The court ruled that he would not be surrendered to France after a European Arrest Warrant was issued in 2019.
Mr Bailey's former partner, Jules Thomas, who stood by the murder suspect through decades of accusations, court cases and stress said of his death “I feel nothing; I’ve had no emotional connection with him for quite a long time”.
Ms Thomas, a Welsh-born artist said she was sorry to hear of Mr Bailey's death “as I would with anyone I know”.
"I am not even thinking about him, he’s gone and he isn’t in my thoughts, that’s it," she said.
Asked whether some may believe her former partner may go to his grave knowing more about the death of Sophie Toscan du Plantier, Ms Thomas said: "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."
Ms Thomas, 73, said the ever-present suspicion and interest in Ian Bailey as the prime suspect in the murder must have undoubtedly affected his health in recent years.
“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.”
The couple were together for 30 years. Ms Thomas who came to West Cork from the UK and fell in love with Bailey who was working in a fish processing plant in Schull was brutally assaulted and hospitalised for injuries he inflicted on her during their long, tempestuous relationship.
In March 2021 she finally finished with Ian Bailey, having given up on any future together and told him to get out. But it took several months before he finally 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, she said: ” 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."
His solicitor Frank Buttimer, who has known Mr Bailey since March 1997, said he was “very upset” to hear of his death.
“I knew Ian was very unwell, we were in communication in the past five days, but I didn’t know he was terminally unwell,” he told the PA news agency.
“He had a very severe heart condition, a very bad heart condition, and had cardiac events prior to Christmas.
“He was a candidate for surgical intervention but wasn’t well enough, so he was trying to become well enough.”
The murder of Toscan du Plantier spawned a number of productions, including the renowned by Sam Bungey and Jennifer Forde, Jim Sheridan’s on Sky, and .
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
