fresh review Ian Bailey will 'fully' co-operate in cold-case Sophie Toscan du Plantier murder probe

Ian Bailey will “fully co-operate” with gardaí if cold-case investigators launch a re-investigation into the 1996 murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier.

A preliminary review by specialist investigators into the French film-maker’s death is complete and is due to be submitted to one of the most senior gardaí in the country.

The report could recommend a full cold-case review.

Cold-case specialists have yet to make a recommendation to Assistant Commissioner John O’Driscoll, but a well-placed source said he would be surprised if a full review is not recommended.

Mr O’Driscoll is in charge of Special Crime Operations at An Garda Síochána.

Mr Bailey said when contacted that he “supports” a fresh review and will co-operate, including meeting with garda investigators, should it be initiated.

“If there is to be a review, I will give it my full co-operation if it is an objective investigation,” he said.

“I would meet and talk to the investigation team if I am satisfied it is an objective investigation this time by An Garda Síochána.”

Late last year, the force appointed a team to carry out a preliminary assessment of the investigation into Ms Toscan du Plantier’s murder in West Cork.

Sources described it as a “scoping exercise”.

Four detectives from the Serious Crime Review Team, commonly known as the Cold Case Unit, examined the case file, which runs to more than 4,000 pages and has been submitted four times to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

It is understood the team examined whether forensics issues and advances in technology would make the case worth revisiting.

It also examined witness statements and whether people who declined to co-operate 25 years ago might now have changed their position, possibly due to a change in their personal circumstances.

Ms Toscan du Plantier’s son, Pierre Louis Baudey-Vignaud, raised the possibility of a full cold-case review of his mother’s murder when he met Chief Supt Con Cadogan of the West Cork Division in Schull in October.

Mr Bailey (64) denies any involvement in the murder and wants the case reinvestigated to “clear my name”.

Although never charged in Ireland, he was tried and convicted of murder in absentia in a Paris court in 2019.