Toscan du Plantier’s son criticises DPP for failure to meet him

The son of murdered French film producer Sophie Toscan du Plantier has expressed his frustration and disappointment at the failure of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to meet him to discuss the investigation into his mother's killing in west Cork almost 20 years ago.

Pierre Louis Baudey-Vignaud (34) wrote to Claire Loftus on July 1st last year, requesting a meeting to outline his belief that the DPP should look again at bringing charges against Englishman Ian Bailey "to definitely establish or invalidate the guiltiness of Mr Bailey" who was twice arrested but never charged in relation to Ms Toscan du Plantier's death.

Mr Bailey (58) has denied any involvement and has denied ever making any admissions in relation to the murder of Ms Toscan du Plantier (39) whose badly beaten body was found outside her holiday home at Dreenane, Toormore near Schull on the morning of December 23rd, 1996.

Mr Baudey-Vignaud said the family was no nearer to getting justice despite a lot of information emerging in Mr Bailey's largely unsuccessful libel action against a number of newspapers in 2003-2004 and his unsuccessful High Court action more recently in 2014/2015.

‘Non-decisive events’

Describing both as part of “a long series of non-decisive events” since his mother’s killing, Mr Baudey-Vignaud told the DPP in his letter that each such event “brought strong perplexity and frustration to me, to Sophie’s family and to anyone who is in search of truth and justice in this unsolved case”.

"The logical consequence of both the 2003/2004 libel case by Mr Bailey . . . and the recent Mr Bailey case against An Garda Síochána and the State . . . should be a fair trial in Ireland before domestic courts with a view to definitely establish or invalidate the guiltiness of Mr Bailey," he told the DPP.

“As the son of the victim, I have witnessed all the developments of the case since 1996. Like her parents, I have felt most of the time powerless and confused after all these years about not knowing who murdered my mother in such a cruel manner.”

Disrespectful

Mr Baudey-Vignaud requested a meeting to discuss matters in more detail, but the DPP responded on July 31st, saying she was conferring with Garda Commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan on the case.

Ms Loftus re-iterated that this was still the case in a second letter, dated December 23rd.

Speaking to The Irish Times in the wake of this most recent correspondence from the DPP, Mr Baudey-Vignaud, who was 15 when his mother was killed, said he found the DPP's unwillingness to meet him not only "disappointing but also disrespectful".

“I find it amazing and I cannot understand why, with all that has emerged from Mr Bailey’s court cases, the DPP is not willing to meet with me. It is a question of respect for someone who lost their mother and for my grandparents who lost their daughter – it is a matter of respect.

“After 19 years when nothing has happened to get justice for my mother, I think I am owed at least a meeting – it was not my fault that my mother was murdered – and I want to meet someone who is responsible for the decision that no one is charged with her murder and the DPP is that person.”

Mr Mr Baudey-Vignaud said he was “not against the DPP” and was only going public on the matter because he felt his letter was his “last chance”.

A spokeswoman for the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions said it did not comment on individual cases.