Posted by Ian Bailey fires warning to RTÉ over Late Late Show guest
31st August 2021
Ian Bailey has fired a warning to RTÉ over an anticipated appearance by murder victim Sophie Toscan du Plantier’s son on The Late Late Show this Friday night.
Mr Bailey wants to appear on the show to refute any allegation that he murdered the French film-maker if they are made by Pierre-Louis Baudey-Vignaud.
‘If this show turns out to be biased and unfair to me, as I strongly suspect it will be, then I’m sending the letter of complaint to RTÉ because they have refused to allow me on the show to tell my story,’ he said.
‘I’ve already drafted a version of it and I will watch The Late Late Show to see what is said.’
Ian Bailey, 64, a former journalist who was the prime suspect in the murder of the mother-of-one in West Cork in 1996, said that he is just looking for a fair hearing.
‘Under Broadcast Authority of Ireland rules, broadcasts are supposed to be balanced and unbiased. Now, I have been clear over the week that I want to appear on the Late Late so that there is a fair broadcast, but RTÉ have decided they are not going to give me a fair hearing,’ he said.
Asked if he would accept an invitation to appear on The Late Late Show on a later date, Mr Bailey said he doesn’t answer hypothetical questions but that he would probably not accept.
‘I would probably send a representative such as my solicitor, Frank Buttimer, and not appear on the show but, as I say, that is hypothetical. What is very real is that RTÉ are seemingly prepared to run an unbalanced broadcast, which is unfair under BAI rules,’ he claimed.
He added that he is only seeking what is termed in Latin ‘audi alteram partem’ – ‘listen to the other side’.
Mr Baudey-Vignaud, who was 15 when his mother was found murdered, is expected to appear on the Late Late when the show returns on Friday night.
He has repeatedly said that the evidence in the case points towards Mr Bailey, but that he is not a detective.
While Mr Bailey accepts he has always been the prime suspect, he strongly denies murdering Ms Toscan du Plantier, 39, outside her home near Schull 25 years ago.
At the weekend, Mr Bailey’s supporters wrote to Mr Baudey-Vignaud to ask him to support a campaign for ‘justice’. A petition demanding a cold-case review of the murder has to date gathered 22,000 signatures, with campaigners asking Mr Baudey-Vignaud and other family members for their support ‘so true justice can prevail’. The letter goes on to state that Mr Bailey ‘isn’t the monster you think he is’ and that he is also ‘a victim of this crime’, which has ‘torn his life apart for 25 years’.
Publicist Amanda Large, who is running the campaign, said she had not received a response from Ms Toscan du Plantier’s relatives nor The Late Late Show after asking to appear on Friday’s episode.
Mr Bailey was never charged in Ireland with the murder due to insufficient evidence, but he was tried in absentia in Paris, convicted of murder and sentenced to 25 years’ imprisonment.
French president Emmanuel Macron said in Dublin last week that a new trial over the murder of Ms Toscan du Plantier could be held in France. Mr Macron said that if Mr Bailey, originally from England, agreed to travel to France, ‘a new trial could be organised, but so far, he’s been refusing to do so’.
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