END OF CHAPTER

‘I feel nothing & he isn’t in my thoughts,’ says Jules Thomas as she breaks silence after death of abusive ex Ian Bailey

“It isn’t about believing he did it or not; I know he was innocent. I knew he couldn’t have done it.

• Published: 22:10, 21 Jan 2024
• Updated: 22:11, 21 Jan 2024

THE ex-partner of Ian Bailey Jules Thomas said after receiving news of his death: “I feel nothing, he’s gone and he isn’t in my thoughts, that’s it”.

Former journalist Bailey, who was convicted of murdering Sophie Tuscan Du Plantier in 1996 in West Cork by a French Court, died this afternoon aged 66.

Welsh born artist Jules, 73, who stood by murder suspect Ian Bailey through decades of accusations and court cases, added: “I have had no emotional connection with him for quite a long time”.

Though sorry to hear of his death, “as I would about anyone I know,” she declared: “I am not even thinking about him, he’s gone and he isn’t in my thoughts, that’s it.”

Asked whether some may believe her former partner may go to his grave knowing more about his role in the death of Sophie Toscan du Plantier Jules, Thomas angrily retorted: “Some people get convinced of all sorts of rubbish and I’m not really interested in anything that doesn’t affect me.

“It isn’t about believing he did it or not; I know he was innocent. I knew he couldn’t have done it.

“The endless attention and speculation is bound to have had an influence on his declining health, but that’s all I can say”.

Jules said that the ever present suspicion and interest in Ian Bailey as the prime suspect in the murder must have undoubtedly affected his health in recent years.

She explained: “It’s bound to have had an influence, I have had no contact whatsoever with him after we parted and he cleared out, but it must have done.”

Together for thirty years Ms Thomas, who came to West Cork from the UK in the early thirties, met and fell in love with Bailey who was working in a fish processing plant in Schull in 1990.

He was initially a tenant in her farmhouse property before their romance blossomed.

Jules was brutally assaulted and hospitalised for injuries he inflicted on her during their long tempestuous and abusive relationship.

In March 2021 she finally finished with Ian Bailey, having given up on any future together and told him to get out.

But it took several months before Ian Bailey finally left her home, seeking accommodation locally that took him to several addresses in the locality and finally to Bantry, West Cork in recent years.

When she heard news of Ian Bailey’s death today, Jules, who is an accomplished and well-regarded landscape artist, continued to finish a current commission.

Asked if she was sad to hear of the death of Ian, she revealed: “I felt it was the end of the chapter when I left him – really that was the end of it.

“Once a woman makes up here mind that’s it; you’ve had enough and I’d had enough of Ian before we ever parted. He’s gone, he isn’t in my thoughts.”

Miss Thomas is pursuing a High Court action against Netflix over the streaming giant filming of its hit documentary series.

SUSPECTED HEART ATTACK

Bailey collapsed in the street in Bantry, close to the flat where he lived on Barrack Street, following a suspected heart attack earlier this afternoon.

His collapse at 1:30pm was seen by a number of people who immediately rushed to provide assistance to the Englishman, who would have celebrated his 67th birthday on January 27.

According to onlookers, a local man experienced in first aid attempted to revive him with CPR until the emergency services arrived at the scene.

At that stage the Good Samaritan had been working on Bailey, who was unresponsive for 20 minutes.

He handed over to first responders who took over, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.