A Dream of Death Read online

  During the development process, Mr Lowney examined the images and realised that they depicted a woman’s body. That body was lying on what appeared to be a country road or pathway. Mr Lowney said he thought the road resembled the area where Sophie’s body was found. He also believed that the photographs were taken at night or in low light conditions. He said the images appeared to show a gateway or an entrance to a field in the background.

  The man who approached him with the photographs appeared anxious when Mr Lowney started carefully studying the images. The man grabbed both the photographs and negatives and left. Mr Lowney was concerned and made a statement to gardaí the following November. In the original statement signed by Mr Lowney, the individual who called to the lab was identified as Mr Bailey.

  However, the trial was not told that, subsequent to his statement, in May 2013 Mr Lowney informed two Irish journalists, Shane Phelan of the Irish Daily Mail and Philip Boucher-Hayes of RTÉ, that he believed that the man had not been Ian Bailey.

  ‘I did not actually say it was him,’ the amateur photographer told Shane Phelan in May 2013. Mr Lowney also confirmed that he had formally withdrawn his original garda statement. The photographer was adamant that he had never identified the man as Mr Bailey. No trace of the photos described by Mr Lowney were ever found by gardaí.

  Mr Bailey, during his 2003 libel action, had vehemently denied ever offering photographs of the crime scene to newspapers, insisting that he had only offered to help with ‘pick up’ photographs of the deceased, such as from the family, friends or local events. However, during that libel action, both Provision Photographic Agency boss, Mike MacSweeney, and the Irish Independent photographic editor, Padraig Beirne, insisted that they were offered crime scene photographs by Mr Bailey.

  In an unexpected development, the trial also heard evidence from a psychiatrist and psychologist who had prepared reports on Ian Bailey – but had never met him. Neither was present in court when their studies were presented. The reports had been ordered by the investigating magistrate in 2014 and were compiled without any direct interviews with Mr Bailey. Rather, they were based on a study of his personal diaries and his various garda interviews.

  Psychiatrist Jean-Michel Masson and psychologist Katy Lorenzo-Regreny found that Mr Bailey had a ‘borderline personality’. This, they said, could lead to both extremes of emotion and impulsive behaviour. Both agreed that Mr Bailey was not psychotic and that he had no impairment that would influence him in respect of the matter at trial. In essence, both found him fit to stand trial in France.

  Their report found that Mr Bailey had a ‘particularly complex and intelligent personality’. But he was also found to have a personality that was partly based on ‘narcissism, psycho-rigidity, violence, impulsiveness, egocentricity, with an intolerance to frustration and a great need for recognition’.

  Undoubtedly, the most powerful testimony offered during the entire trial came from Sophie’s family. They had waited 22 years for an outlet for their pain and loss. It was apparent that, despite the length of time since the brutal killing on 23 December 1996, their pain and suffering had not lessened in the slightest.

  ‘[Sophie] should be here now, walking free … she was so beautiful without ever trying to be. The air vibrated around her,’ wept her aunt, Marie-Madeleine Opalka. ‘It is important for justice to be done.’ Until recently, Mrs Opalka had, along with Georges and Marguerite Bouniol, travelled to west Cork every December to appeal for help in bringing Sophie’s killer to justice. Mrs Opalka had for many years been the voice of the family in Ireland in their annual plea for help in identifying their daughter’s killer.

  The pain still being endured by the family was evident when, during references to the injuries suffered by Sophie that Christmas evening, her father bowed his head in grief while her son cradled his head in his hands.

  Mr Baudey-Vignaud said the Paris court now had the opportunity to deliver justice – and to help Sophie’s family to ‘feel secure’. He still owned his mother’s Toormore property and wanted himself and his family to feel safe when he visited it. The father of two maintained the house exactly as it was when his mother left it. Her coat still hangs by the back door and her favourite tea brand still sits on the shelf. ‘When I go back to Ireland, I don’t go back to a crime scene. The house is how she left it, and her spirit lives on there.’

  The young man pointed out to the trial that, at 38 years of age, he was now almost the same age as his mother when her life was cruelly stolen from her. His mother, he insisted, lived on through him and his children.

  ‘[She was] a simple, loving, passionate woman who had given [me] an understanding of the sufferings of the world.’ His mother, he added, loved the wildness of the west Cork countryside, the panoramic coastal views and rugged headlands.

  He took exception to the manner in which Mr Bailey had dealt with the Paris proceedings. He singled out a man at the back of the court who was monitoring proceedings on behalf of Mr Bailey and his legal team. Mr Baudey-Vignaud said that this approach showed a ‘lack of courage’ – Mr Bailey had refused to appear before the Paris court or even to be legally represented.

  The trial, Sophie’s son argued, was ‘democracy at work’ and an opportunity to offer long-delayed justice for his mother and her family. He also took exception to how his family had been portrayed by some sections of the media. They were, he said, a tight-knit and loving family.

  Sophie’s brother, Bertrand, said her family had looked for answers over her brutal death ever since the awful events of 23 December 1996, but they were still waiting for justice over 22 years later.

  Her uncle, Jean-Pierre Gazeau, said his niece’s life was marked by beauty, intelligence and courage. She was never afraid of travelling to Ireland on her own – and never once feared for her safety despite living on her own in such an isolated property.

  After three days of evidence – the majority of it spent reading historic sworn statements into the court record – direct testimony concluded. The trial then ended with concluding statements from the prosecutor and the solicitors acting for the family.

  Prosecutor Jean-Pierre Bonthoux was scathing in his assessment of Mr Bailey’s approach to the Paris trial. He accused him of ‘cowardice’ in not being present in person and not having legal representation for the proceedings. Instead, he accused Mr Bailey of attempting to manipulate the media to defend himself.

  ‘He is not here but he really is here. He responds via the media, via his previous lawyer, his current lawyer, his future lawyers, his future ex-lawyers. It would be laughable if it were not so tragic. Mr Bailey is making fun of us,’ he claimed.

  Mr Bonthoux urged the court to consider the statements from west Cork witnesses and the physical evidence from the scene at Toormore. He also expressed exasperation at the loss of potentially crucial evidence from garda storage over the years since the killing, including a bloodstained gate located just metres from where Ms du Plantier’s body was found.

  The prosecutor was critical of the DPP in Ireland and the 2011 review of the garda case file, which was dismissed as a ‘sham’. He slated the ‘methodology’ applied, which, Mr Bonthoux claimed, took a piecemeal approach to the case rather than an overall perspective of where the facts led. ‘If you reduce every element to zero, it does not take a mathematician to work out that the sum will eventually come to zero,’ the prosecutor declared. He urged the court to return a guilty verdict. ‘I hope one day as soon as possible to see him in court and see his lawyers defend him,’ he said.

  The three magistrates were also asked to consider Ireland’s stance on the Paris proceedings. Solicitor Laurent Pettiti was blunt: ‘Ireland does not trust French justice. [This trial] is a humiliation for the Irish system.’ The solicitor claimed that the Irish handling of the murder investigation was tantamount to ‘a judicial farce’. He warned that mistakes had occurred in the Irish investigation, ranging from the mishandling of evidence right through to critical delays in processing the c
rime scene. The farce was, he stated, compounded by the ongoing refusal to prosecute Mr Bailey.

  To sum up, he pointed out that the tragedy of Sophie’s brutal death was that it had occurred in a place she had fallen in love with. ‘It was a place she had chosen. It was a place where she recharged and worked. She loved the people around her because they made her relax.’

  After these concluding statements, the magistrates retired to consider the case. A verdict was expected within hours.

  Less than five hours later, the magistrates returned to the hushed courtroom to confirm the guilty verdict. Their ruling took just over 30 minutes to deliver. Magistrate Aline described the killing as ‘extremely violent’ and said that due to this extreme level of violence it was apparent that Sophie had been slain with ‘homicidal intent’.

  She also said it was the opinion of the court that there was ‘significant evidence’ against Mr Bailey in respect of the charge involved. The court noted the various witness statements offered and, in particular, the original sworn testimony of Marie Farrell.

  Magistrate Aline then imposed a 25-year prison sentence on Mr Bailey – just five years below the maximum possible sentence of 30 years. In light of the court verdict, a new EAW was openly proposed. The assembled members of Sophie’s family waited in respectful silence as the three magistrates filed from the chamber. Then the pent-up emotion of 22 years swept over them.

  Outside the court, members of the family openly wept with relief. They were also adamant that Ireland would now have to act on the French verdict. ‘It is a victory for justice, it is a victory for the truth and now Ireland will have to extradite Ian Bailey,’ Mr Baudey-Vignaud said.

  Alain Spilliaert, the solicitor who had worked with the family on the case for almost 20 years, said the trial was fully justified and conducted in an exceptionally fair and balanced manner. He stressed that the situation in respect of a fresh EAW for Mr Bailey would now have to be carefully studied.

  The judgment was very emphatic and comprehensive. It addressed all the issues that have been raised by Ian Bailey over the years and dealt with in a very thorough way. A trial in absentia according to European laws is a valid process and can take place when a person refuses to attend. A trial in absentia is entirely in keeping with the presumption of innocence, so it is an entirely credible process. It has been a long process after Mr Bailey made appeals to the Chambre de l’instruction and the Cour de cassation. It is not as if he did not have an opportunity to make his case to French justice.

  The only question that remained was whether Mr Bailey would have to face this French justice.

  14

  AFTERMATH

  The news from Paris of the guilty verdict and the 25-year sentence handed down was barely one hour old before Mr Bailey’s reaction made headlines. Having denounced the Paris hearing for years as a ‘sham’ and a ‘show trial’ at which he was inevitably bound to be found guilty, the journalist now had a few choice soundbites prepared for the media who went looking for him in west Cork.

  He wasn’t hard to find. Mr Bailey had stuck rigidly to his normal routine and had attended his west Cork market stall that morning, despite knowing a verdict from Paris was imminent. Sporting a fedora-style hat, tan slacks and marine blue jacket complete with blue scarf, if the journalist was feeling the pressure of events in Paris, he was intent not to show it.

  Recorded by news cameras as he went about his market stall routine, he agreed to speak with Nicola Anderson and Mark Condren of the Irish Independent at his home at The Prairie once he completed his market duties. It was an interview that would dominate the headlines the following day.

  Sitting in sunshine amid the wildflowers in his Liscaha garden, he insisted he was ‘staying calm in the eye of the hurricane’. Mr Bailey stressed that he was under firm instructions from his ‘good lawyer Frank Buttimer’ not to offer any reaction or make any utterances about events in France. But, aside from being recorded at the market stall, he had also been filmed by a TV documentary team throughout the day – the selfsame documentary team cited by the French prosecution just days earlier at the opening of the trial.

  He deftly deflected repeated questions about how he was feeling or what he felt was likely to happen now that the French had sentenced him to 25 years in prison. To the surprise of the journalists, he offered a poem called ‘In the Eye’, which he said best explained his status at that particular time. ‘Actually, this wouldn’t offend Frank, because I am a poet and Frank said to me that I couldn’t say certain things, but if I put it in a poem?’

  He then agreed to recite his poem aloud for the pair: ‘There is a full force hurricane, storming, circulating, swirling, angry, aggressive and vengeful, around the outside of my head. Yet because of beauty and love and thoughts of you, I remain calm in the eye of the hurricane. And in the bonfiring of my dreams, at that final moment, between the laughter and the tears, at the tumult of my fears, with thoughts of beauty and love and you, I am able to stay as calm as the stilled mill pond.’

  Concluding the poem, he said it perfectly captured where he was at that precise moment in time. ‘That is from the heart. I am not acting calmly in a hurricane – I am.’ He acknowledged he was a ‘bit worried about herself’, in reference to his partner, Ms Thomas, who was not participating in the interview but who was painting in her studio just a few metres away. ‘She is a bit shook,’ he said.

  The poetry dominated coverage of the case over the coming days, most likely as intended. The striking photograph taken by Mark Condren, a multiple winner of the prestigious Irish Press Photographer of the Year Award, dominated the front page the following day. Such was the impact of the image it was reproduced several times over the coming weeks for use with various updates on the Paris trial and verdict.

  Mr Bailey had explained, when asked how he managed to cope with the stress of recent events, that he had developed a special method of maintaining focus and calm. He now ardently pursued ‘Theravada forest Buddhism and detachment meditation’. It offered a form of relaxation that he found hugely beneficial. Many of the journalists to whom he had explained his meditation technique subsequently had to look it up on the Internet for clarification.

  As they left his home that day, the photographer and journalist commented to Mr Bailey on an old typewriter rusting in a ditch as a form of garden display. He had, he explained, brought the Underwood typewriter back to west Cork from London and it represented him in ‘another life’. Now, he observed, it was ‘decomposing – a bit like myself’.

  Given his journalistic experience, it was hardly surprising that Mr Bailey’s few comments on the matter turned out to be well-chosen soundbites. To a number of locals, he had joked that his next book of poetry would be entitled A John Wayne State of Mind.

  He was as good as his word – the successor volume to The West Cork Way was indeed entitled A John Wayne State of Mind and published by Seanachaí Productions just over six months later.

  The quotes on the opening page of the volume were noteworthy. One was from the spiritual self-help guru Pat ‘the Barber’ Crowley: ‘Never react, only respond.’ Another was by the author: ‘Stay calm in the eye of the hurricane.’ Adding a spiritual note was a famous verse attributed to the twelfth-century philosopher Hildegard of Bingen.

  The volume included 41 poems and pieces of prose with titles ranging from ‘Hardened Steel’ to ‘Preparing for the Worst, Hoping for the Best’ and ‘Still in the Ring’. His poem ‘In the Eye’ was also included.

  Mr Bailey also pointedly thanked those who had supported him throughout the difficult weeks, months and years he had endured: ‘I have had great support for which I am very grateful. I have been in good company and gotten lots of support. So I am doing my best to stay calm. There has always been a chorus of people going back twenty years – people who believed that I had nothing to do with it and they have been great. More and more people are sending cards, best wishes and miracle medals.’

  Referring back to A John Wayn
e State of Mind, he said that he would like to have it ready by the West Cork Literary Festival in July – something that seemed to occupy him much more than a looming third French extradition bid.

  His solicitor, Frank Buttimer, was much more forthcoming in terms of what the Paris murder conviction represented not just for his client but for Ireland: ‘It is a grotesque miscarriage of justice. It is a shameful episode in Irish criminal justice that we have allowed this to happen. The Department of Justice has questions to answer about how it could have abandoned our criminal justice system. The bigger picture is that it is an abandonment of our independence to a foreign power in this regard.’

  The solicitor, in a hard-hitting interview with The Guardian newspaper in the UK, repeated his assertion that the outcome of the Paris trial was never in any doubt. ‘It is a show trial. A rubber-stamping exercise in determining his guilt. They can read into the record statements that were taken many years ago, including many that are totally discredited or downright bullshit.’

  Mr Buttimer said the effective result of the French stance for his client was that Mr Bailey was trapped in west Cork and unable to travel overseas for fear of the outstanding EAW issued by the French. ‘He has been a prisoner in a country called Ireland.’

  While Mr Bailey had been attempting to put on a brave face in the aftermath of the Paris trial and his conviction, Mr Buttimer was more forthcoming about what it meant on a human level for the journalist.