Extradition plea by Sophie Toscan du Plantier's uncle

THE uncle of Sophie Toscan du Plantier has called on Ireland to allow the extradition of Ian Bailey to France to face a fresh trial.

Mr Bailey was found guilty of her murder, in his absence, at a trial in France in 2019. 

Last October, a third attempt by France to have him extradited in connection with the murder was rejected by the Irish High Court.

Mr Bailey has always denied any involvement in the murder. 

He was arrested twice as part of the murder investigation in Ireland but was never charged.

Jean Pierre Gazeau told The Echo he regretted that nobody had been brought to trial in Ireland in relation to the murder.

He said that if Mr Bailey was surrendered to the French, there would be a new trial.

He continued: “Ian Bailey could call new witnesses and new evidence and present these before the judge.” 

The trial in Paris followed a probe by French investigators, who traveled to Ireland to interview witnesses who had been previously interviewed as part of the garda investigation into the killing.

Two previous attempts by the French to have Mr Bailey extradited were rejected by the Irish courts. 

Those attempts were prior to the French trial held in May 2019.

The first rejection was by the Supreme Court in 2012, with the second rejection being in 2017 by the High Court.

After the French probe got underway, Sophie Toscan du Plantier's remains were exhumed from her grave in France and reinterred after a fresh autopsy.

Mr Bailey's fight to prevent a French trial was rejected in France's Supreme Court in 2018.