British journalist Ian Bailey has been arrested after a court in Ireland endorsed his extradition to France in connection with the murder of a French film producer 22 years ago.
Bailey, who was arrested in Dublin on Monday, denies blame for the killing of Sophie Toscan du Plantier, whose body was found bruised and battered while she was on holiday in Ireland in December 1996.
However, he was sentenced in his absence to 25 years in prison by a French court following a three-day trial in May after the Irish authorities twice refused to extradite him.
After the trial finished, presiding judge Frederique Aline ordered a European Arrest warrant be issued for his arrest.
His extradition to France was endorsed by the Irish High Court on Monday.
Ms Toscan du Plantier’s battered body was found on an isolated hillside in Toormore, near Schull, west Cork, two days before Christmas in 1996.
She was the wife of celebrated cinematographer Daniel Toscan du Plantier and her death became one of Ireland’s most famous unsolved killings.
Manchester-born Bailey has lived in West Cork since the mid-1990s after quitting his career as a journalist and turning his hand to poetry and gardening.
Ms Toscan du Plantier’s son Pierre-Louis Baudey-Vignaud, who was 14 when she was killed, has been at the forefront of the family’s campaign for justice.
The murder was the subject of a popular Audible podcast named "West Cork", after the area in Ireland in which it occurred.
Bailey branded the case in France a “show trial”.
It is understood that he was released on bail following his arrest.
If he is extradited to France he will be tried again by a jury and given the opportunity to mount a defence.
