NOTICE TO QUIT 

Self-confessed Sophie murder suspect Ian Bailey reveals homeless fears after learning he could face eviction

• Published: 20:23, 27 Mar 2023
• Updated: 22:10, 27 Mar 2023

SELF-confessed murder suspect Ian Bailey says he has “severe anxiety and fear” after learning he may face eviction from his west Cork home.

The journalist and poet, who was questioned twice over the murder of French beauty Sophie Toscan du Plantier but never charged, received notice to quit before Christmas.

However, he was able to remain in the one bedroom apartment in Bantry, west Cork due to the eviction ban.

But since the ban was lifted by the Government last week he has now been told he has to leave his rented accommodation by the beginning of May.

It is understood that the landlord wants to sell the property

I have been given until May 1 to vacate and I am trying to find alternative accommodation in west Cork where I have lived for 30 years.Mr Bailey, who has always denied any involvement in Sophie’s death, said: “After all I have been through I do not know what I am going to do. It is extremely worrying and stressful.

He found temporary emergency accommodation provided by Cork County Council before finding a small flat near Bantry.

Gardai say Mr Bailey has kept a low profile in Bantry since arriving there and occasionally appears at west Cork markets selling his poetry.

Mr Bailey regards himself as a former suspect in the Sophie case following the launch of a Garda cold case review into the high profile 1996 murder last year.

The Gardai now privately classify him as a “person of interest” in the case.

He has so far not been interviewed as part of the cold case review.

It is understood detectives are following up new leads from west Cork to Britain and France. Garda officers are expected to fly to Paris later this year to follow up enquiries there.

SOPHIE DOCUMENTARIES

Ian Bailey always denies killing Sophie and maintains to this day that he never knew her.

The film director Jim Sheridan, who spent seven years investigating the case for a documentary on Sky, strongly believes Bailey is innocent and that the killer came from France.

Bailey was convicted of murder in absentia by a French court over three years ago and sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Mr Bailey never showed up for the trial which was branded a “kangaroo court” by his lawyers and included hear-say evidence that would never be admissible in an Irish court of law.

The Irish judiciary have refused to extradite him due to severe doubts over the French conviction.

Tragic Sophie’s family are convinced he did it.