Retired senior officer Dermot Dwyer, in my opinion, did not come across in a professional manner in the Jim Sheridan documentary. I have no doubts he is a decent man but he was way out of his depth in this investigation. To leave a body out in the rain for two days and two nights raises questions that would fill a room.
Then we have the rumours; we have a "Fickle" Marie Farrell who was promised a house by the Gardai; along with other promises providing she pin-pointed Bailey as the man she saw on the bridge on the night in question.
I will end as I began: it is heartbreaking for the family of Sophie but also Ian Kenneth Bailey has stood in the Dock for 25 years on foot of gossip, back-stabbing, and unprofessional policing. One source recently told me that the French gendarmes along with Sophie's late husband, looked at our Gardai, as stone age hillbillies (you only have to look at he body language, when Mon du Plantier eventually visited Ireland). We all are very aware of the French and their arrogance and also I will quote Sophie's brother - "Why did her husband stay in France and not come to Ireland where his wife was the centre of a murder crime investigation. To be continued. Fred Bassett
Mon, Jul 26, 2021e
Evidence went missing but 'no proof Bailey was framed'
Gsoc report cites serious failings in Garda investigation into 1996 west Cork killing
Thu, Aug 2, 2018, 20:11 Updated: Thu, Aug 2, 2018, 20:36
Barry Roche in Cork
The failings in the investigation included the disappearance of a blood-spattered gate, taken from close to where Sophie Toscan du Plantier’s body was found.A report from the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (Gsoc) is highly critical of the handling of the Garda investigation into the death of Sophie Toscan du Plantier but has found no evidence gardaí tried to frame Ian Bailey for her murder.
The body of Ms du Plantier (39) was found close to a laneway near her holiday home outside Schull, in Co Cork, two days before Christmas 1996. The film producer was found dressed in her nightclothes and she had been badly beaten. She had died from multiple head injuries.
Mr Bailey, an English journalist who had moved to west Co Cork in 1991, was arrested and questioned, and in September 1997 a file was sent to the director of public prosecutions, who directed that no charges be brought. Mr Bailey has always denied any involvement in the killing, and he has claimed that the Garda tried to frame him.
A French investigative team pictured at the scene of Sophie Toscan du Plantier’s murder near Schull, west Cork in 1996. Photograph: Daragh Mc Sweeney/ProvisionThe Gsoc report, released yesterday, said the number of statements and exhibits that have gone missing suggested the investigation was not properly managed, particularly in relation to the incident room set up to investigate the killing.
“The witness statements provided to Gsoc from senior Garda members do not indicate clearly who was in charge of the investigation from the outset and through the enquiry and who was responsible for making the strategic decisions – including the arrest plans,” it said.
However, it concluded there was no evidence to support claims by Ian Bailey, his partner Jules Thomas and witness Marie Farrell that the Garda investigation into Ms Toscan du Plantier’s murder in west Cork in 1996 was corrupt.
“While there was evidence of a lack of administration and management of aspects of the investigation into the murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier, there was no evidence of the high-level corruption by gardaí alleged by the complainants,” said the Gsoc investigators.