‘invasion of privacy’ | 

Ian Bailey signed declaration backing Jules Thomas in Netflix battle over Sophie documentary

The Cork artist is suing the streaming service, claiming she never signed a location agreement for filming on her property during making of the 2021 series

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Three months before his sudden death, Ian Bailey signed a declaration in favour of his estranged partner Jules Thomas to help her in a legal battle with the streaming giant Netflix.

Thomas is suing Netflix, claiming she never signed a location agreement with the company during the making of a 2021 documentary on the murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier.

In proceedings issued in the High Court in Dublin against Netflix Inc, Lightbox Media, and John Dower, she claimed that the filming on her property was “an invasion of privacy” and that a series of “false statements” were made in relation to her involvement in the aftermath of the murder.

On October 17, 2023, Bailey — described as a “gentleman” of Barrack Street, Bantry, Co Cork — signed a “solemn” statutory declaration at the offices of O’Donovan Murphy & Partners supporting her case, although they were estranged at that point.

“In May 2018, I did write to the managing director and the legal department at Lightbox Media and informed them that my then partner Jules Thomas was deeply unhappy that I had facilitated filming of the Netflix series about the murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier on her property on May 7, 2018, and May 8, 2018,” he said in his declaration.

“The filming had taken place without her permission or authorisation… I informed Lightbox Media that Ms Thomas, the owner of the property, did not consent to the filming and that she instructed that none of the recordings should be used in any way,” he continued.

In this letter, dated May 18, 2018, sent before the Netflix series, Sophie: A Murder in West Cork, was aired, Bailey informed the makers that “an issue has arisen concerning consent and location.”

It went on: “As you will be aware I gave extensive interviews on the property. Ms Thomas has asked me to make it clear to Lightbox Media that she gave no consent, nor was asked and she wishes that none of the recordings are used in any way.

“I myself was happy to co-operate with your crew and was unaware at the time of her objection to what she saw as an invasion of privacy. I am sorry about this and maybe I was at fault not to check with her first, although with the benefit of hindsight a more professional approach would have been for the company to have raised the matter of consent prior to recordings, which might have saved so much wasted time.”

Bailey — who signed his letter Ian Kenneth Bailey BCL, LLB, LLM — said that a small amount of recording had taken place “on a public boreen” and he had “no objection to this footage being used, but any further interviews would have to take place at the West Cork Hotel in Skibbereen.” Jules Thomas had ejected Bailey from the farmhouse they shared for years around March 2021.

In a separate document, dated October 26, 2023, lodged in the High Court in Dublin, (Catherine) Jules Thomas, of The Prairie, Lissacaha, Schull, Co Cork, has challenged the documentary makers, claiming that “inaccuracies, fabrications and falsehoods” in the series caused her financial and psychological damage.

Ms Thomas, who is a lay litigant (taking the case without legal representation), said she had been shunned by her neighbours, ostracised by friends, forced for a time to stay away from the local market where she sold artwork, suffered losses from customers and galleries refusing to deal with her, and experienced “stress, isolation and depression” because of the Netflix series.

She also disputed that Ian Bailey “exercised coercive control” and manipulated her, that he had told her he had “a feeling that something bad was going to happen that night” or that he was going over to “Alfie’s” a property adjacent to where the murder took place.

​She said claims that Ian Bailey had “confessed to the murder of Sophie to their neighbours Richie and Rosie in her presence and that they had run screaming from the house”, were false.

The “false narrative”, she claimed, also included statements that when questioned by a French journalist if Bailey could be the murderer she had replied “I don’t know” and that “she was aware” that a coat belonging to Bailey had been washed and was soaking in a bucket in the bathroom of her house the day after the murder.

The documentary makers were aware that this material was false or had a “reckless disregard” for the facts and she was “never invited to contradict them” she said. She added that an “inevitable consequence” of these statements was emotional harm and suffering inflicted “on the injured party” and she could produce medical evidence to support this.

The legal document concluded that she, the plaintiff, has suffered a psychiatric and/or psychological injury arising from the wrongful actions of the defendants (Netflix etc) and as of the time the claim was lodged (October 26, 2023) it was premature to calculate income losses she had suffered from sales of her artworks.

The document setting out replies for “further and better particulars” from solicitors for Netflix and the other defendants (Matheson) also refers to defamation proceedings in the USA in relation to two of its earlier series, The Queen’s Gambit and Inventing Anna “arising from its false portrayal of real persons for dramatic effect”.

On December 14, 2023, Matheson Solicitors wrote to Ms Thomas saying it was currently “taking our clients’ instructions” regarding her request for voluntary discovery of material relating to her case, and it hoped to respond to her request “within the next few weeks”.

It is understood that Ms Thomas will apply to the Master of the High Court on March 6, 2024, “to make discovery of the documents which are or have been in their possession… relating to the matters at issue” and for costs relating to the application.

Lightbox Media was contacted for comment but had not responded at the time of publication.