FINAL DAYS

Ian Bailey lived in ‘absolute tip’ and was surrounded by bizarre items at rented Cork home in months before he died

The former journalist, from England, passed away after a suspected heart attack last weekend

• Published: 11:34, 26 Jan 2024
• Updated: 12:08, 26 Jan 2024

IAN Bailey lived in squalor surrounded by modelling pics of himself and wooden penises in the last few months of his life, we can reveal.

He had a tiny sitting room come kitchen, a bedroom and bathroom in the ground floor flat he rented in Bantry, Co Cork.

But the suspect in the murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier who died suddenly last Sunday never used the bedroom which just had a mattress on it.

He slept every night on the couch with his feet on wooden pallets placed at the end of it.

All he ate every day was fish because he passionately believed it was good for the brain and the mind.

A friend who visited him a couple of times said: “The place was like an absolute tip.

“There were a huge number of files on his case, plus hundreds of notebooks everywhere, bags of rubbish and empty bottles

“The flat was also full of wooden penises, believe or not, which for some strange reason he carved and would try to sell in the local markets as a bit of a joke.

“The only thing he really looked after were his clothes. He loved his big overcoats, straw and woolly hats and took care of them.

“There were also loads of pictures of himself – many modelling style photos which he paid to get taken by a professional photographer 10 to 15 years ago.

“He was forever writing things about people in his notebooks, especially those he hated.

“He would write things down and say he was putting a curse on them.

“The notebooks also contained most of his poems he wrote.”

Bailey had a public reputation as a bit of a ladies man but the friend said he wasn’t.

The pal said: “Apart from former long-term partner Jules Thomas there were very few women in his life.

“He was very friendly with a local woman but aside from her the only female he socialised with was a Mayo woman.

“They were friends rather than a couple. They would meet up in hotels for a night out and stay in separate rooms.

“She lived too far away and in the end they hardly ever saw each other.

“I think he found it really difficult to look after himself after he split with Jules.

“He really had a very sad ending.”

The Gardai say they have no plans to search Ian Bailey’s home and would have to apply for a court approved search warrant to do so, and prove justification.

A senior source said: “I don’t think that is on the agenda.”