#BREAKING Ian Bailey found guilty of Sophie Toscan Du Plantier murder (in abstentia, in Paris court) and sentence to 25 years in prison.
— Ian Gaughran (@IanGaughran_INM) May 31, 2019
This afternoon.
The 62-year-old, with an address at The Prairie, Toormore, County Cork, has been sentenced to 25 years in prison – the maximum sentence for murder under French law is 30 years.
He has repeatedly denied any involvement in the killing, and his solicitors have dismissed the proceedings in France as a ‘show trial’, claiming they were invalid and unjust.
Bailey convicted in absentia in France of Toscan du Plantier murder (RTÉ)
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Clearly not guilty.
But he brought it all on himself interjecting himself into the investigation and his arrogance.
How did you come to the conclusion that he is “clearly not guilty”?
The only ones who know is the victim and perpetrator
Justice must be done and France is hardly north Korea and subject to the same rights we all enjoy for its citizens
Not sure what to think of Bailey after listening to that West Cork podcast. That Marie Farrell well and truly messed up his life if in fact he didn’t do it. Its quite the riddle.
“There was no jury in the trial and the three judges took about five hours to reach a verdict.” So, that’s it then. Guilty. No rationale or reasoning for the verdict. Just guilty.
Judging by what was reported as “evidence” this week, this farce was as laughable as that Blackadder/pigeon/speckled Jim trial.
God rest Sophie, I don’t think she or her family will see justice in this life.
“this farce was as laughable as that Blackadder/pigeon/speckled Jim trial.”
^This
A woman was murdered and somebody is guilty of it. But this process must be an embarresment to France.
It’s an embarrassment to Ireland due to the shoddy investigation.
I’m not saying i agree with the trial/verdict, but you’re really mischaracterising it here eoin. There was a rationale for it, which was set out at length by the court. And the fact that there was no jury does not mean that the trial was inherently unfair. Jury trials only really exist in common law countries.
Hi Barry, the initial reporting of the verdict yesterday omitted any mention of a rationale, but later ( perhaps initially withheld because of defamation concerns) reporting did refer to 45 minutes of rationale, which is covered in outline in the Irish press today. The evidence relied on, seems farcical to me.
“Borderline” what does that even mean [*looks around at some commenters on here*]
And the judgment apparently refers to Ian Bailey’s “entourage” intimidating witnesses to retract stories, but if there’s any basis for that accusation by the French judges, I can’t see it in the reporting.
I do hope the French don’t now do something stupid by taking matters into their own hands. They have form in this area.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalinka_Bamberski_case
I do agree that the rationale given seems very weak alright. The appallingly incompetent Garda investigation probably means this case can never be brought to a satisfactory conclusion.
What else do you expect when his solicitor never made an appearance and he refused to go
The French legal system complies with EU law
What about our special criminal court where juries are not used and these cases were for very dangerous subversives
When he is extradited he will be retried and give his side
Does this mean they can issue a European arrest warrant?
From what I remember from the podcast, as the terms of the trial would not be enough to convict him in Ireland, he can’t be extradited. But it means he can’t leave Ireland ever again (though I think that was the case since these current proceedings began).
Can’t leave Ireland? Could France extradite him from anywhere else?
Or can’t go to France?
I stand open to correction, but I believe that Ireland does not recognise convictions in absentia.
I guess he can travel to any country with similar laws?!?
It’s been a while since I listened to the podcast, but if he were to go anywhere else, there would be a risk that they might agree to the extradition request. Or at least detain him while they considered it. Whereas he’s safe in Ireland. So I’d say he’ll stay in Ireland for the duration.
I would love to know how Ireland can refuse to hand over a citizen from another country on the run
Bailey is a British citizen not an Irish citizen
…a grotesque miscarriage of justice says his solicitor on the radio just now…could be worse…could be Julian Assange…
This is what they call French Arrogancé!
Tell them we’ll hand over Bailey when they hand over Henry.
I’m not making light of the fact that a woman was brutally murdered btw
Well if I was up t’ me neck in it
Frank is exactly the lad I want
Fabulous solicitor
A proper warrior
Does a great Banks as well
There was some hearsay evidence in the French trial. This hearsay also could not be cross examined as there were no Irish witnesses in court. In French law the onus is on the defence to prove the accused is innocent. In Irish law the onus of proof is on the prosecution to prove the accused guilty. An Irish attorney general could argue that the evidence in the French trial was far less than the data accumulated by the Gardai over twenty years ago. Since the Gardai data was deemed inadequate for mounting a prosecution in the Irish courts, the French data being less weighty was even more inadequate. Extradition would be wrong in the circumstances.
What kind of creep confesses to a 14-year-old in such graphic terms? I’d say he did it.
But that’s the nub of it -a mere belief in probability of guilt as in “you’d say he did it” is far far short of proof beyond reasonable doubt -we have to imagine how we ourselves would want to be treated if we were falsely accused of a crime
If it was anyone else, I’d probably agree with you.
But Bailey is such an attention-seeking narcissist, that it would not surprise me if he made something like that up because he was worried his notoriety levels were slipping.
I don’t know if he did it but the gardai made a dogs dinner of it.
That is the only conclusion that you can take from this tragic case, a disgraceful example of bad police work from the get go.
Indeed. And the French verdict is a farce.
Hopefully ,Margurite & Georges Bouniol , now in their 90’s have a bit of emotional peace /closure.
However , I think Sophie’s son Pierre will highly likely have to continue to fight for justice for his mother.
Ireland has a very poor record for victims of crime.
How could this give them any measure of peace and closure? The killer could well be at large. If there were new DNA evidence linking Bailey to the crime, fine, but not this circus. What has it achieved? Three French judges drawing their conclusions based on hearsay and speculation – same as the rest of us in the pub.
I was going to start on the podcast this weekend. I’m always a late-starter on trending entertainment shows. After this news is there any point?
could you throw up a link for that, please, hoop?
It’s called West Cork. It’s up on audible if you have that. Looks like it might be on youtube too but I haven’t had a listen.
https://youtu.be/I105AWwT3_U
cheers, millie
Thanks Millie. I’m up to Ep 6 and beginning to feel sorry for Ian Bailey. Nor do the Garda seem to have made such a pig’s ear of the investigation as has been reported elsewhere. Only three more to go for some sort of resolution, but since West Cork II is on the cards, I’m guessing no satisfying conclusions will be reached.
Your one Marie Farrell was to blame for all this. the poo she spread about Bailey was ludicrous. Bailey didnt help himself by being a complete moron either.