Du Plantier lover was ‘suspect’ in murder

A PREVIOUSLY unnamed man who had a relationship with Sophie Toscan du Plantier was identified by a former DPP’s office as a “suspect” in the inquiry into the Frenchwoman’s murder.

Newly emerging documents also refer, among other things, to claims that:

* Drugs were offered to a user by a garda to obtain evidence against self-declared chief suspect Ian Bailey.

* A solicitor involved in a 2001 review of the case found there was no evidence linking Ian Bailey to the killing and that the Englishman’s actions were indicative of innocence.

* Mr Bailey’s partner Jules Thomas was arrested and detained unlawfully. She was not questioned about the Frenchwoman’s murder.

* Gardaí did not inform the DPP that two witnesses said they had seen “unusual” people on the day Sophie Toscan du Plantier was killed.

* Gardaí told members of the community that Mr Bailey was the murderer and “there is every possibility that he will kill again”.

* Common sense suggested and strong evidence supported the claims that scratches sustained by Mr Bailey were the result of cutting down a tree and killing two turkeys.

The claims are contained in a 2001 report into the murder by the office of former director of public prosecutions James Hamilton, entitled “Analysis of the Evidence to Link Ian Bailey to the Sophie Toscan du Plantier Murder”.

It names the man who had the relationship with Sophie Toscan du Plantier and says his existence was known to both gardaí and the director of public prosecutions.

The 2001 report says this individual was a “suspect in relation to the murder inquiry” and regularly stayed at her west Cork home before the Frenchwoman ended the relationship.

His existence has not appeared in the public domain previously.

In relation to the offer of cannabis to a user, the report says on the balance of evidence this witness was telling the truth when claiming a garda had offered him drugs for information.

The claim has been dismissed by the garda.

“Such investigative practices are clearly unsafe to say the least,” the report says. The report also finds that once Mr Bailey was being painted as guilty “the fear thereby engendered was bound to create a climate in which witnesses became suggestible”.

On January 13, the Supreme Court will consider an appeal by Mr Bailey against the High Court decision to extradite him to France.