Bailey: It appears inevitable I’ll finish up a convicted murderer in France

Ian Bailey has said that it seems "inevitable" that he will be found guilty of the murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier — however, he has reaffirmed his insistence that he is an innocent man.

Ms Toscan du Plantier was killed in December 1996 and Mr Bailey, a British citizen who lives in Co Cork, has denied any involvement.

Speaking to Virgin Media News in an interview aired yesterday evening, Mr Bailey said that he expects to be convicted at his French trial in May.

“I’m greatly, greatly imperiled here,” he said.

“I know that I had nothing to do with this and I’m going to finish up a convicted murderer.

“I’m actually an innocent man and what will happen in France is that they will probably celebrate the fact that I’ve been convicted and believe me to be the killer,” he claimed, adding: “All they’ll have succeeded in doing is convicting an innocent man.”

Mr Bailey, who says he will not attend the trial in France, believes he will need a “miracle” to escape a conviction.

“I know there are people here in Ireland, in Bantry, and even very close by to the hotel we’re in [for the interview], know that I have nothing to do with this and short of a miracle or an intervention or some new information coming out, it would appear inevitable that at a point later this year, I’ll become a convicted murderer in France.”

Mr Bailey said he is facing into a “very grim and dark period” in his life.

“I’m looking at a date in May when the tectonic plates in my life are going to shift hugely and I don’t know how I’m going to handle it,” he said.

Mr Bailey’s solicitor Frank Buttimer said the French trial is a “showpiece” and that the French authorities would never leave his client alone.

“Relentlessly, they have decided to go ahead with a criminal trial which I think is just a showpiece trial to satisfy certain interests in France and I believe that the likelihood is that they will come again.

“They do not ever intend to leave that man alone,” he said.

The case was recently the subject of a podcast, West Cork, hosted by British journalists Jennifer Forde and Sam Bungey, which has increased the international attention surrounding the case.

In 2012, the Irish Supreme Court stopped a French bid to have Mr Bailey extradited.

Under French law, Mr Bailey can be tried in absentia, meaning the court can try him for the murder of a French citizen, even if the crime did not take place in France.

No one was ever charged with the murder of Ms Toscan du Plantier in Ireland.