THE family of Ian Bailey have scattered his ashes in the sea off west Cork.
Bailey — the chief suspect in the 1996 murder of French film producer Sophie Toscan du Plantier — died of a heart attack in January 2024, aged 66.
The English poet had always maintained his innocence of the crime.
His grieving sister Kay Reynolds arranged a private funeral for the journalist after he dropped dead on a Bantry street last year.
Bailey was cremated and Kay initially brought his ashes back to Britain, waiting for the opportunity to spread them at his favourite spot at Skeaghanore Pier yesterday.
Kay said: “He absolutely loved west Cork with a passion.
“It is very appropriate that this is where we spread his ashes. It is something he wanted.”
Opening up about his passing, she recalled: “He had been quite fit until the last couple of years.
“It finally got to him. He was not taking care of himself, but it was all to do with the pressure.
“It had been relentless for almost 30 years. It took its toll on him.
“There were times he did not help himself. I think if he had kept quiet it would have been better, but that was not Ian’s style. He had nothing to hide and he would not hide. He confronted his challengers face on.
“Gardai felt there were things that only somebody involved in the crime would have known.
“I don’t think that helped.”
‘DOWNFALL’
Kay told 96FM producer Paul Byrne, who was one of a few invited guests attending the final ceremony: “As a family, we never thought that he had done this.
“That was Ian’s style of journalism. He thought outside the box.
“I think that was what happened there and became his downfall. That is how he became a suspect.”
She said she never considered her brother might be Sophie’s killer.
Kay insisted: “From the moment he told us, he phoned us to let us know we would start to see things in the paper about him, we never doubted him — that he had not been involved in this.”
Kay also remembered Sophie, who was battered to death outside her holiday home near Schull.
TIMELINE OF SOPHIE CASE
December 23, 1996: Sophie’s battered body, still in night clothes, is found outside her holiday home near Schull, west Cork, by a neighbour.
February 10, 1997: Ian Bailey is arrested at his home for the murder but is later released.
April 17, 1997: Inquest hears Sophie died from multiple injuries, including laceration of the brain and skull fracture, caused by a blunt instrument.
January 27, 1998: Ian Bailey is arrested and quizzed for a second time, but is again released without charge.
January 2002: A review is ordered into the murder investigation after a highly critical report is written by a solicitor.
June 2008: A French magistrate orders the exhumation of Sophie’s body for a post-mortem and forensic examination.
July 2008: An inquiry into the handling of the murder probe recommends no prosecution.
June to October 2009: French authorities travel to West Cork to view the crime scene and meet Irish investigators. Two Garda detectives travel to Paris for quiz on probe.
February 19, 2010: A French judge issues a European Arrest Warrant.
April 23, 2010: Gardai arrest Bailey and he is brought before the High Court and granted bail.
March 18, 2011: High Court orders Bailey to surrender to European arrest warrant but he appeals to Supreme Court.
March 1, 2012: The Supreme Court rules in Bailey’s favour in his appeal against extradition.
May 31, 2019: Bailey is found guilty of Sophie’s murder in his absence in France. He is sentenced to 25 years in jail.
June 21, 2019: French authorities issue a third European Arrest Warrant.
October 12, 2020: High Court rules against Bailey being extradited. Later, State decides not to appeal. It ends attempts to extradite Bailey.
She said: “This is not to forget that a very young mother was brutally murdered.
“I feel so sorry for the family because of the misguided belief that Ian committed the murder. They have just had so many years of torture.”
Kay added: “This is a final goodbye. And it’s just doing the right thing by Ian and all of the support that he’s had.”
