Agreement has been reached in relation to disclosure of documents in a High Court case being taken against Netflix by Jules Thomas, the former partner of Sophie Toscan du Plantier murder suspect, the late Ian Bailey.
Ms Thomas has claimed that a documentary series, entitled: “Sophie: A murder in West Cork” contained “glaring inaccuracies, fabrications and falsehoods” and led to her being treated as “a social pariah”. She also claims she never signed a location agreement with the company during the making of a 2021 documentary.
She has brought proceedings against Netflix Inc, film production company Lightbox Media Ltd, and director John Dower, also claiming that the filming on her property at Schull was “an invasion of privacy”. The claims are denied.
As part of the process for a case on its way to trial, it came before Deputy Master of the High Court, John Glennon, on Friday when he was told discovery sought by Ms Thomas had been agreed. Costs were awarded in her favour.
On December 23rd, 1996, Ms Toscan du Plantier (39), a French film producer, was found beaten to death outside her holiday home in Toormore, near Schull.
Mr Bailey, who died nearly a year ago of a suspected heart attack, was the self-described main suspect in the murder investigation. Both he and Ms Thomas were arrested twice but were released without charge.
A report by the DPP, which was highly critical of the Garda investigation, ruled out a prosecution of Mr Bailey on the basis of insufficient evidence.
Attempts to extradite him to France to face a murder trial there failed. Eventually, a French court held a trial in his absence and convicted him of murder in 2019. He had repeatedly denied any involvement in the murder.
Ms Thomas separated from Mr Bailey in 2021.
In 2022, following the airing of the three-part Netflix documentary, Ms Thomas brought her High Court proceedings.
In her action she claims the alleged falsehoods in the documentary affected how she was treated in her local community and that her emotional, mental and physical state had also been affected.
She also claimed her creativity as an artist had been damaged and it had damaged her financially. Demand for her work, which was her only source of income, had disappeared, she said.
The defendants deny the claims.
A date for the hearing of her case has yet to be set.
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