Ian Bailey 'praying truth will come out' about Sophie Toscan du Plantier murder
Ian Bailey has said he is praying the truth will come out after he was convicted of the murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier, 39, in West Cork more than 20 years ago
The former journalist, 62, was found guilty by a Paris court in his absence on Friday of killing the wife of French film director, Daniel Toscan du Plantier, following a trial of only three days.
Bailey said claims he was the culprit represented a "bundle of lies".
He told RTE: "I know there are people in this country who know that it was not me that was the culprit.
"And I know that, sitting on that, my prayer has been that the truth will come out."
Ms Toscan du Plantier's battered body was found on an isolated hillside in Toormore, near Schull, West Cork, two days before Christmas in 1996.
French presiding judge Frederique Aline on Friday listed all the evidence presented to the court during the trial, saying there was "significant evidence" of Bailey's guilt.
She ordered that he be imprisoned for 25 years, directed that a new EU arrest warrant be issued and said there would be an announcement on June 11 about how much compensation he would be told to pay Ms Toscan du Plantier's family.
Bailey said, given that it's a bank holiday weekend here, he may be waiting on a knock on the door from Tuesday.
He added that he was continuing with life "business as usual", and the trial outcome was "water off a duck's back".
He said Ms du Plantier's family was told a "bundle of lies from the beginning", that somehow he was the culprit.
"They chose to believe that and they still have my sympathy."
Earlier: Ian Bailey's solicitor brands guilty verdict a 'grotesque miscarriage of justice'
Ian Bailey's solicitor has said yesterday's verdict against his client in France is a "grotesque miscarriage of justice".
French authorities have ordered a new European arrest warrant after the 62-year-old was convicted in his absence of the murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier in west Cork in 1996.
Bailey’s solicitor Frank Buttimer said his client is incredibly distressed.
He said: "I kind of saw what's been going on out there in the media just like everybody else, but he was not represented by anybody in the court.
"It was really no more than, what I would call, a rubberstamping exercise of a predetermined position of guilt on the part of Ian Bailey by the so-called French criminal justice system."
Mr Buttimer said his client is innocent “in this country, in spite of what has been done to him in the other country” and that he would continue to support Bailey, who had been through a “nightmare”.
“It is incredibly distressing,” Mr Buttimer said.
