FOOTBALL FAN GARRY MANN EXTRADITED TO SERVE JAIL SENTENCE

Garry Mann and family

THE INDEPENDENT

England football fan Garry Mann was extradited to Portugal today to serve a two-year jail sentence for hooliganism.

The former Kent firefighter, 52, was convicted over a riot during the Euro 2004 tournament but says he did not have a fair trial.

Speaking before surrendering to Portuguese police at Heathrow Airport, he said: "What I would like to do is finally say that the Labour government and Crown Prosecution Service have betrayed me. It is time for this new Government to support its own British citizens when there is an obvious injustice taking place."

"It is time for them to do something about the European Arrest Warrant and for the British people to realise what the European Arrest Warrant is about.

Jago Russell, of Fair Trials International, said Mr Mann's trial was a "travesty of justice" and pledged to continue to campaign against the European Arrest Warrant.

He said: "Gary has been torn from his home and family in the UK and within hours he will be on a flight to Portugal where he will spend two years in prison. This is a tragic result. Gary is the victim of a grossly unjust trial in Portugal. His trial really was a travesty of justice.

"But he has also been a victim of the UK's rigid extradition laws and the European Arrest Warrant which is working unfairly.Above all he is a victim of British judges who said they were powerless to stop an injustice even when it was staring them in the face."

Mann, a father of six from Faversham, Kent, said he has been the victim of a "witch-hunt" by the Portuguese authorities.