The brutal murder of Sophie Toscan de Plantier has become a public relations disaster for this country.
The two documentaries by Sky and Netflix on her shocking death are being watched by millions all over the world.
And people are rightly asking why can’t the police in Ireland catch the evil killer?
The loss of such a beautiful mother, daughter and sister must have been so hard on her family. And yet, here they are 25 years later trying to get justice for tragic Sophie.
My heart goes out to her son Pierre who was only a young boy when his mother was taken away from him. I can understand his anger, his hurt and his pain. If the shoe was on the other foot, I would be doing exactly the same – fighting for justice.
The French President Emmanuelle Macron had every right to raise the issue when he was here last week. But he was wrong to point the finger at Ian Bailey, the self-confessed prime suspect who has been sentenced to 25 years’ jail in absentia for the crime in France.
In this country we always believe you are innocent until proven guilty.
We also believe people should be tried in Ireland for crimes committed in Ireland and not in another jurisdiction.
The fact is, as eccentric and disliked as Englishman Bailey may well be, he has never been charged with her murder because successive Director of Public Prosecutions said there was no legitimate evidence.
The time has now come for a complete cold case review from start to finish of this case.
Every scratch of evidence and every lead must be looked at, re-examined and followed up.
There were originally 50 different suspects, every one of them must be reviewed. The Garda Commissioner Drew Harris told me over a cup of tea several weeks ago he would consider it.
Well the time has now come for him to make a decision. He is a good man, very fair and decent, so hopefully he will give the go-ahead.
Taoiseach Micheal Martin and the Government must give him whatever financial resources he needs to find and prosecute the culprit.
With modern DNA and forensic technology, there is absolutely no excuse for the killer to get away with it any more. I am not a cop, but normally in cases like Sophie’s the killer is either someone local who knew the terrain or someone she knew.
It was clearly a very personal, angry and violent attack when she was struck over 50 times with a stone slab.
A concrete cavity block was also dropped on her skull, truly shocking. The retired Garda Inspector Pat Marry, who solved some of the country’s most notorious crimes, was right last week when he said it is still not too late to catch Sophie’s killer.
I think everyone in Ireland will be relieved for her family, and the country at large, when her murderer is finally apprehended and sentenced to life imprisonment.
