British man held over 1996 murder as Irish court endorses extradition

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A British man convicted of the murder of a French film producer in 1996 has been arrested in Dublin after the Irish High Court endorsed his extradition to France.

Ian Bailey was convicted in absentia earlier this year by a French court for the murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier in southwest Ireland more than 22 years ago.

Irish legal authorities have twice refused to extradite the journalist, who has an address in west Cork, but have now approved of a third European Arrest Warrant issued by French officials.

Mr Bailey denies killing the mother-of-one, whose body was found bruised and battered near her holiday home in Schull, County Cork on 23 December 1996.

The 62-year-old refused to present himself to a three-judge court in Paris last May and was subsequently sentenced to 25 years in prison. He described the proceedings as a “farce”.

One month later he was ordered by a separate court to pay £102,000 to a French agency that compensated Ms Toscan du Plantier’s family for her loss.

Close relatives of the filmmaker used a provision in French law to successfully sue the state and were subsequently handed pay-outs by Fonds de Garantie – an agency that awards compensation to victims of crime or terrorism.

Mr Bailey was in attendance to hear the Irish High Court’s ruling on Monday and is now expected to be released on bail pending a full hearing of the extradition proceedings.

His lawyers had objected to the endorsement of the European Arrest Warrant, highlighting the High Court’s previous decision to dismiss the second extradition attempt, made in 2017, as an abuse of process.