The sentence was handed down today.
Ian Bailey, an Englishman accused in French court of having murdered Sophie Toscan du Plantier in Cork, has been found guilty and sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Toscan du Plantier, a French film producer, was killed while on vacation in Cork on 23 December, 1996. A Garda investigation into the case proved inconclusive, and in 2008 it was reported that Gardaí had said there was “no criminal proceedings in train or contemplated.”
The French government has long sought Bailey’s extradition, which he has contested successfully, before the Irish High Court in 2016 and the Supreme Court in 2010.
However, over the last month, Bailey has been tried in absentia in a Paris courtroom, and found guilty.
Today (31 May), Bailey has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for the murder and a new warrant will be issued for his arrest, meaning that France will once again seek his extradition from Ireland.
Bailey, who lives in Schull, West Cork, has long denied any involvement in Ms. Toscan du Plantier’s murder. Throughout the entire Garda investigation, Bailey was never charged with the crime.
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