Ian Bailey not charged in Ireland due to 'problems from garda reports', judge tells trial

The failure of the Irish authorities to charge Ian Bailey with murder does not mean that he is innocent of the crime, according to the judge presiding over the trial of Mr Bailey in France.

Judge Frédérique Aline or the murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier in West Cork in December 1996.

She also said Mr Bailey had not been charged because of the “problems from the garda reports”, referring to issues that arose in the initial garda investigation into the murder.

A French detective who travelled to Ireland to investigate the murder told the court that the local garda didn’t know how to deal with a crime like the killing of Ms du Plantier.

“They felt under pressure and they were not trained to cover such a crime,” the detective told the murder trial.

Ian Bailey has consistently denied that he had anything to do with Ms du Plantier’s death. The DPP’s office has ruled on at least four occasions that there was insufficient evidence to bring any charge against him.

He is not attending the trial in the Palais de Justice in Paris and is not represented by any legal counsel. His solicitor in Ireland, Frank Buttimer, has described the hearing in Paris as a “show trial”.

The trial is being heard in front of a judge and two magistrates who will decide on whether Mr Bailey is guilty hours after the trial concludes, which is expected to be on Friday.

Ms du Plantier’s family is represented at the hearing by a team of lawyers who have the right to question witnesses and make submissions.

At the outset of the trial, one of the lawyers made an objection to the court that some journalists who were present intended to film Ian Bailey’s reaction to the trial. Judge Aline didn’t react to the complaint.

Ms du Plantier’s son Pierre Louis Baudey-Vignaud with lawyer Marie Dose. Pic: Getty.

Ms du Plantier’s son Pierre Louis Baudey-Vignaud and her elderly parents George and Marguirette Bouniol were in court for the full hearing.

At one point, the trial was halted to allow them to leave the room while graphic photograph’s of Ms du Plantier’s body were shown.

The photographs also portrayed a blood-splattered gate. Last year, a GSOC report noted that the gate had gone missing from garda custody.

The trial is the culmination of a campaign by the bereaved family and an association that was set up to assist them find out the truth of what happened to Ms du Plantier.

However, the court heard today that despite an appeal by Mr Baudey-Vignaud in West Cork last week, most of the witnesses asked to attend are not expected. There is a possibility that up to three witnesses from West Cork may attend at the court tomorrow but that has yet to be confirmed.

Most of the judge’s opening remarks and testimony from the detective related to elements of evidence that were gathered by the gardaí in the weeks and months after the murder.

These included allegations about scratches on Mr Bailey’s hands in the days after the body was discovered, admissions he was alleged to have made about the killing and suspicions around a bonfire at his home.

Mr Bailey’s claim that the scratches were from cutting down a Christmas tree and killing turkeys was also recorded. An analysis from the DPP attributed his alleged admission to “sarcasm”.

Details were also outlined of the discovery of Ms du Plantier’s body near her holiday home in Toormore outside Schull.

She was wearing light nightclothes, including a blue bathrobe, and walking boots but no socks. She had sustained some horrific head injuries. Blood was splattered near the body. There was a rock there also, which is believed to have been the weapon used to kill her.

The courtroom in Paris where the trial is taking place.

The judge also referenced two witnesses who said that Mr Bailey had told them that he killed Ms du Plantier in order to create a big story that would restart his career as a journalist.

Judge Aline noted that there were no signs of any sexual assault and the “absence of a sexual motive will go towards the theory (that he killed her because) he wanted to restart his journalistic career”.

The trial was also told that gardaí had initially suspected that somebody had arrived from France to commit the murder but their attention quickly turned to Mr Bailey.