RTÉ One
‘It was my last day of being a child’ – Sophie’s son in new RTÉ documentary
In a new RTÉ One documentary which airs tonight at 9.35pm, the son of Sophie Toscan du Plantier talks about the impact of her death on him and his family. Pierre-Louis was 14 when the French film producer was found brutally murdered in West Cork. ‘It was my last day of being a child. She was everything for me’.
On the 23rd of December 1996, the body of Sophie Toscan du Plantier was found on a laneway outside her holiday home near Schull. She had been due to travel back to France to spend Christmas with her husband, Daniel Toscan du Plantier and her son. Sophie’s murder was a devastating event, sending fear and shock waves across the local community in Cork and back to her family in Paris. Over 20 years later her family are still looking for answers.
The du Plantier Case tells the story of one of the most infamous murders in recent Irish history, looking at the case from both sides, a heartbroken family searching for the truth and a man campaigning for his innocence. Two conflicting stories, inextricably bound by one terrible crime.
The programme also hears unprecedented testimony from Sophie’s mother Marguerite Bouniol and her brother Bertrand, who describes the experience for his family as ‘like September 11th.’
Although he was never charged, Ian Bailey was first publicly identified as a suspect back in 1997. For the past twenty years, he has consistently protested his innocence. In 2014, he brought and lost a case in the High Court alleging a Garda conspiracy to frame him for the murder.
Ian Bailey has now been indicted for murder by the French courts who want him extradited to stand trial in Paris. This morning, the High Court refused to order his extradition to France. However, it is still possible that he will be tried ‘in absentia’ in Paris.
Reporter Philip Boucher Hayes interviews Ian Bailey along with his partner Jules Thomas in this gripping documentary. Ian Bailey calls on the DPP to try him for the murder in Ireland rather than face a trial in France, such is, he believes, the weakness of the case against him. ‘It is in my mind and intention to write a letter to the DPP and I’m going to suggest that the DPP or the authorities in Ireland invite the French prosecutors to travel here to Ireland and to overview, under Irish law, my trial here. I would welcome it.’
Pierre-Louis says: ‘I know for people it’s very difficult to understand why I still come to Ireland, to this house. But Ireland is part of my life and I don’t want to blame Ireland, because she loved this country and I love this country. And it’s so important to for me to bring my children to this house, for them to know their grandmother.’
Pierre-Louis and the family say they will not rest until they have their questions answered. With an utmost belief in the power of the courts, their desire to see Ian Bailey before a magistrate in France is unwavering. ‘I am confident that we will get the answer. I’m not sure if it will be tomorrow, in one month, in one year, in ten years. But I must get the answer for my grandparents before they die. I’m 35 and I will wait for justice to be done and justice will be done one day, for sure.’
ENDS
Watch preview clip here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVczu-tGJD0&feature=youtu.be
The Du Plantier Case will air on RTÉ One tonight (Monday, 24 July) at 9.35pm
For press queries: Anne-Louise Foley, RTÉ TV Press & Publicity, 208 3298 /foleya@rte.ie