An empty dock is what most individuals keep in mind in regards to the trial which noticed Englishman Ian Bailey convicted of bludgeoning French movie maker Sophie Toscan du Plantier to loss of life.
The Manchester-born ex-journalist was sentenced to 25 years on the Paris Assizes Court docket in his absence 5 years in the past, regardless of claiming he had by no means met his sufferer.
Ms Toscan du Plantier was 39 when – simply earlier than Christmas 1996 – she was murdered exterior her remoted vacation dwelling close to Schull, on Eire’s rugged south-west coast.
Bailey was the prime suspect from early on, nevertheless it was not till Could 2019 that the method within the French capital noticed him discovered responsible.
With out even bothering to talk to courtroom officers by telephone, or appoint a French barrister, he stayed at dwelling in Eire, the place his freedom was assured.
Sophie Toscan du Plantier (pictured) was murdered exterior her remoted vacation dwelling close to Schull, on Eire’s rugged south-west coast, in 1996

Ian Bailey (pictured) was the prime suspect from early on, nevertheless it was not till Could 2019 that the method within the French capital noticed him discovered responsible

Ms Toscan du Plantier was alone in Eire and making ready to return to Paris to see her then 15-year-old son, Pierre-Louis Baudey-Vignaud, who was 15 when she died
This made the one-week trial one thing of a token occasion, however Ms Toscan du Plantier’s surviving relations nonetheless embraced when the decision was learn out.
Her solely son, Pierre-Louis Baudey-Vignaud, mentioned on the time: ‘It’s a victory for justice, it’s victory for the reality, and now Eire must extradite Ian Bailey.’
The nation’s authorized authorities by no means did, nevertheless, and final Sunday it appeared that the reality about Ms Du Plantier’s loss of life would by no means be recognized.
Mr Bailey collapsed and died from a suspected coronary heart assault in Bantry, West Cork, on the age of 67, ending any hope of him lastly confessing.
Now, nevertheless, there are some in France who consider that the demise of the 6ft 4ins former rugby participant would possibly truly be an opportunity to reopen the chilly case in Eire.
Mail On-line has spoken to authorized officers who mentioned that concern and intimidation had led to potential witnesses providing ‘uncommon statements’, or ‘saying nothing in any respect’.
‘That may change now that Mr Bailey is now not round, and there’s no-one to anger,’ mentioned a senior prosecuting supply who was concerned within the 2019 trial.
‘One of many key points of this whole case from day one is that folks have been very scared about crossing Mr Bailey.’
Such phrases have been echoed by Ms Toscan du Plantier’s uncle, Jean-Pierre Gazeau, who mentioned:
‘We urgently enchantment to the Irish police to reopen their investigations with a very give attention to DNA proof, and potential collaborations.
‘That’s to say that some folks round Mr Bailey didn’t inform the reality. Shortcomings with the Irish justice system have to be addressed.’
Mr Gazeau mentioned it was now as much as folks ‘who know one thing to contact gardai’ – the Irish police – in order that ‘the reality could be recognized’.
In flip, Ms Toscan Du Plantier’s brother, Bertrand Bouniol, mentioned: ‘Mr Bailey was discovered responsible by French justice however by no means went to jail due to the Irish justice system.
‘For us this can be a mistake. It’s also the fault of Europe, the EU, which was unable to harmonise its justice system.
‘However it’s primarily the fault of Eire, which by no means got here to the tip of this felony case, regardless of a lot of investigations, and a scarcity of will and braveness on the a part of Irish justice.

Ms Toscan Du Plantier’s brother, Bertrand Bouniol, mentioned: ‘Mr Bailey was discovered responsible by French justice however by no means went to jail due to the Irish justice system’

Mr Bailey collapsed and died from a suspected coronary heart assault in Bantry, West Cork, on the age of 67, ending any hope of him lastly confessing
‘My sister was brutally murdered, and her assassin was capable of proceed a traditional life.’
Three French judges handed down a responsible verdict when Mr Bailey was convicted of the ‘barbaric and atrocious’ homicide.
Frederique Aline, president of the bench, mentioned there was ‘adequate proof to convict’ Bailey, taking into consideration the ‘accused’s historical past, his persona, and his obsession with intercourse’.
Ms Toscan du Plantier was a profitable producer from Paris who was married to the late Gaumont cinema govt, Daniel Toscan du Plantier.
Regardless of Bailey claiming he had by no means met Ms Toscan du Plantier, proof pointed to a romanticinterest in her – one which deteriorated into violence two days earlier than Christmas.
Ms Toscan du Plantier was alone in Eire and making ready to return to Paris to see her then 15-year-old son, and husband.
However she was confronted by an intruder within the early hours of December 23, and was then chased throughout a area and down a lane.
Her clothes is believed to have gotten caught on barbed wire, permitting her killer to meet up with her.
Bailey, who lived close by, had cuts on his face and arms afterwards – his try and blame the accidents on slicing Christmas bushes and making ready turkeys was described as ‘completely pathetic,’ by one of many French courtroom officers.
The official added: ‘Turkeys are usually not killed simply two days earlier than Christmas, and no one is slicing down Christmas bushes at the moment of 12 months both.’
Prosecutors additionally pointed to Bailey’s ferocious report of home violence towards his then accomplice, Jules Thomas.
Bailey modified his alibi continuously, however admitted that he had certainly left his cottage on the evening of the homicide.
Nevertheless, there was no forensic proof linking Bailey to the scene, not to mention any type of CCTV in an period when site visitors or safety cameras have been barely heard of in rural Eire.
It was 24 hours earlier than a state pathologist arrived on the scene, which meant the time of loss of life couldn’t be established.
What is for certain, nevertheless, it that there have been loads of anecdotal proof towards Bailey, together with allegations that he admitted to the homicide in a neighborhood pub in Schull. Lower than two weeks after the homicide a lady referred to as Marie Farrell referred to as the native Garda station claiming she noticed Bailey near a close-by bridge at about 3am on the evening of the crime.
However, by 2005, Ms Farrell was alleging that police coerced her into attempting to incriminate Bailey. In February 1997, native schoolboy Malachi Reid claimed Bailey had advised him that he killed Ms Toscan du Plantier.
Bailey was quickly arrested however then launched with out cost, as was his accomplice, Jules Thomas.
Northern Irish man James McKenna additionally advised gardai he was together with his spouse within the Galley Inn in Schull in April 1997, when Bailey admitted the killing in a ‘deliberate voice’, saying ‘that was me’.
‘I may see he was smirking, and I may see he was content material that he was capable of brag,’ Mr McKenna advised detectives.
In response to French legislation, Paris can declare felony legislation jurisdiction anyplace on the earth {that a} French citizen is attacked.
If the French had been capable of efficiently execute an arrest and extradition warrant then Mr Bailey would have confronted one other full trial in Paris – however in particular person, and together with his personal defence barrister.
When none turned up for the 2019 trial, prosecutor Jean Pierre Bonthoux portrayed Mr Bailey as a murderous coward who had dedicated the ‘barbaric and atrocious crime’ however did not withstand the implications.
Referring to Ms Toscan du Plantier Mr Bonthoux mentioned : ‘We should not scale back her identify to only a courtroom case. I ask you to do justice to her reminiscence.’
There was no signal of her alleged killer when he had an opportunity to elucidate himself in her dwelling metropolis, however Ian Bailey’s loss of life would possibly certainly be an opportunity to lastly set up his overwhelming guilt as soon as and for all.