Reaction/Toscan du Plantier family: The family of Ms Sophie Toscan du Plantier, the French woman who was murdered in west Cork in December 1996, reacted with guarded optimism to the verdict in the Ian Bailey libel case yesterday, writes Lara Marlowe in Paris
"At first I was a little disappointed," admitted Ms Marguerite Bouniol, the dead woman's mother. "We would have preferred that all eight newspapers be cleared. But the technicality over which the other two were fined had nothing to do with what was published about Sophie's death."
Ms Bouniol hopes the DPP will consider that enough new evidence emerged to file criminal charges against the man she refers to as "the suspect".
"We're a little confused over the legalities," she said. "The police told us we mustn't mention him by name. But Irish television is coming to interview me and I'm doing it because I want people to talk about Sophie. But how can I give an interview if I can't name the suspect?"
If the DPP does not charge Mr Bailey, Ms Bouniol says the family will push ahead with the civil suit they filed against him in December 2002, for the unlawful death of their daughter.
"We're putting all our hope in the revelations that came out in the libel trial," she continued. "For justice to be done, for Sophie, but also for the people who so bravely testified."
Mr Robert Dore, the Dublin solicitor representing the Bouniols in their lawsuit against Mr Bailey, said yesterday's verdict would be helpful to their case. "I'm awaiting the delivery of a defence from Ian Bailey's solicitors," he said. "If I don't receive a defence within 14 days, I'll bring a motion to coerce them to deliver a defence."
He said the civil suit was unprecedented in Ireland, though the families of the victims of the Omagh bombing in Northern Ireland have filed similar suits against alleged members of the "Real IRA". In the US, the family of the murdered wife of Mr O.J. Simpson filed a civil suit and won damages after he was cleared by a criminal court.
"It's heartening from our point of view that a circuit court judge felt that on the balance of probability, that which was published by eight newspapers relating to Ian Bailey's involvement in the unlawful death of Sophie Toscan du Plantier was true," Mr Dore continued. "In our civil action, we have the same onus of proof. It's a balance of probabilities; not 'beyond all reasonable doubt'."
Ms Marie-Madeleine Opalka, Ms Bouniol's sister, expressed frustration with the Irish legal system. "In the face of so much evidence, confirmed by the witnesses, all of whom came - including one who was on her deathbed, who'd seen him burning a coat - we would not understand if no one was charged and tried," she said.
Until his death last year, Ms Toscan du Plantier's widower, Mr Daniel Toscan du Plantier, often expressed anger that no one had been punished for his wife's murder. During the libel trial, four neighbours or acquaintances told the court that Mr Bailey told them he killed the French woman.
Ms Opalka said the witnesses "did all of us a favour" because "the man never imagined he'd be raked over the coals for a week. Nothing went the way he wanted it to." The victim's family were advised not to attend the libel trial. "He could have said, 'You see, it's as if I'd already been convicted, because the whole family is here waiting," Ms Bouniol said.
But newspaper accounts showed them how hard the Garda had worked, and enabled the family to learn details they had been ignorant of for seven years.
"We come across some of the witnesses when we go to Ireland," Ms Bouniol said. "They couldn't talk about it. Now they're happy to say, 'You see; we did our duty seven years ago. We talked to the police.' That gives us a glimmer of hope. There is so much precise testimony. How can it be ignored?"
Every witness's account was precious to her, Ms Bouniol said. She was particularly struck by Mr Malachi Reid, now 21. When he was a 14-year-old hitch-hiker, Mr Bailey told him he'd "bashed (Ms Toscan du Plantier's) brains in".
Mr Dore said a court would not take account of Mr Bailey's inability to pay damages if the Bouniols won their civil suit. "Obviously, getting money out of Ian Bailey would be hard," he said. "By the same token, I think my family would feel a great sense of vindication if they were to succeed in this action."