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Suspect in murder waits for Ireland decision

Published: 19 Jan 2012 08:11 GMT+01:00 | Print version
Updated: 19 Jan 2012 08:11 GMT+01:00

A British man wanted in France over the murder of the wife of a French filmmaker in Ireland will have to wait to learn if he faces extradition after his appeal hearing ended on Wednesday.

Ian Bailey, a 54-year-old former journalist, denies murdering Sophie Toscan du Plantier, the wife of high-profile film producer Daniel Toscan du Plantier 16 years ago.

Bailey, a former suspect in the Irish investigation into the murder, has been fighting the extradition request from France since April 2010.

French magistrates want to question him over the murder.

At the end of a three-day appeal by Bailey, judges at Ireland's Supreme Court reserved their judgement and did not say when they would deliver their decision.

The Court will pass judgement only on points of law raised by the extradition request, not on a dossier of evidence submitted by Bailey's lawyers which alleges the Irish probe into the murder was seriously flawed.

Bailey lived just a few kilometres from Sophie Toscan du Plantier's home in Schull, County Cork, southern Ireland. She was found beaten to death near the house on December 23rd, 1996. She was 39.

Suspicions about Bailey's involvement were aroused when he was one of the first people to arrive at the scene of the murder.

Investigators say that in articles he wrote about the case, he included details which only police and the murderer could have known.

AFP (news@thelocal.fr)

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2012-01-23 14:17:43 by hoffa11
The pathologists findings needs revisiting in this case. The severe injuries found on Sophie's body may have been the result of events other than 'murder'. After weeks of exhaustive searching, the 'murder' weapon was not found. My view on this whole affair differs greatly from the widely held view that it was a murder. I believe the most likely scenario on the morning of the 23rd' December 1996 is; A. Sophie left the house in daylight, no lights were on inside the house. B.She went out to feed the horses near the house, horses were close to the house. The reports carried in the media at that time suggested Sophie may have gone to investigate something in the early morning light. My view is that, her injuries went unrecognised for what the possible causation was, namely horse bites and horse kicks. All the reinvestigating is futile if her injuries are not looked at again.
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