‘strange’ | 

New witness provides sketch of scratches he saw on Ian Bailey’s hand in December 1996

‘I read a report that Ian Bailey had told gardaí that cutting a Christmas tree was responsible, which was not what he told me’

Yesterday at 10:00

A drawing of a bloody hand has been submitted to gardaí investigating the case of murdered Sophie Toscan du Plantier in a new development.

It comes as Ms du Plantier’s only son, Pierre-Louis Vignaud Baudey, said he has met gardaí recently in order “to understand what is going on” with the cold case investigation.

The sketch of the injured hand was submitted this year by a new witness named Roger Brooke, who lives in Italy.

I looked down and was shocked to see that the back of his left hand was criss-crossed with deep and obviously recently-incurred cuts and scratches

He has provided a statement to gardaí, saying: “On the evening of the 23 December 1996, I entered the Courtyard bar in Schull, West Cork.

Sophie Toscan du Plantier’s uncle visits her home in west Cork

“I spotted Ian Bailey at the other side of the room. I went over to wish him a Merry Christmas. I approached him from his left side, and after wishing him well, I looked down and was shocked to see that the back of his left hand was criss-crossed with deep and obviously recently-incurred cuts and scratches.

“This of course prompted me to ask him what on earth he had done to his hand. His answer was, ‘I was killing turkeys’. I remember thinking that it was strange to be killing turkeys just before Christmas Day. That is usually done a week earlier.”

He always struck me as a fairly strange individual who seemed to have a very high opinion of himself for no particularly good reason

Mr Bailey has long acknowledged scratches and said to gardaí during interview on his first arrest that they came from cutting down Christmas trees. He later added that he had killedturkeys on the day prior to the discovery of Ms du Plantier’s body on December 23, 1996 at Toormore, near Schull.

Mr Brooke told the Irish Independent: “I had known Bailey to a small degree when I was living between Ballydehob and Schull. He always struck me as a fairly strange individual who seemed to have a very high opinion of himself for no particularly good reason.

“I did not make a statement to gardaí regarding the wounds to Bailey’s hand/s in 1996 or 1997 due to personal reasons.”

The hands were never officially photographed

Mr Brooke eventually left West Cork for elsewhere in Ireland.

“Consequently I lost touch with the investigation to some extent. But I already knew that the gardaí were aware of (and had seen) the damage to Bailey’s hands.”

The hands were never officially photographed.

“It was really only after I left Ireland in December 2003 to live back in the UK that I began to realise that (a prosecution) was not forthcoming and wondered if I had anything to contribute.”

Bailey had told gardaí that cutting a Christmas tree was responsible (for his scratches), which was not what he told me

In 2014 Mr Brooke walked into a police station in Stroud, Gloucestershire, and made his first statement.

He also contacted gardaí and left his details around 2015.

“The reason was I read a report that Ian Bailey had told gardaí that cutting a Christmas tree was responsible (for his scratches), which was not what he told me.”

Mr Brooke made a statement to Bantry gardaí in 2021 and says he was told this year that an artist was being employed by gardaí to visit people who had “seen the wounds to Mr Bailey’s hands”. He then made and submitted his own sketch.

The name Roger Brooke sort of rings a bell

Mr Bailey has always vigorously denied any involvement in the death of the 39-year-old, although he was convicted of Ms du Plantier’s murder in absentia by a three-judge French court and sentenced to 25 years in prison. His legal team branded those proceedings a farce.

When contacted for comment, Mr Bailey told the Irish Independent: “The name Roger Brooke sort of rings a bell. But I am going to make life easy for you. I’ve got no comment.”

Meanwhile, Ms du Plantier’s uncle, Jean Pierre Gazeau said an offer to pay Mr Bailey’s medical bills after recent hospitalisation with cardiac concerns “was made on a rather sarcastic level, just to point out our great concern about the possibility of Mr Bailey’s passing away”, he said.​​​​​​