HIGH COURT REJECTS BRITISH FIREMAN’S LEGAL CHALLENGE AGAINST EXTRADITION

For Immediate Release

The High Court has today rejected legal challenges against the extradition of Garry Mann, a former fireman from Kent, to Portugal. Garry faces extradition to serve a 2 year prison sentence imposed following a trial in Portugal that was previously found by a British court to be “unfair”. Garry has no further right to appeal his conviction in Portugal.

Jago Russell, Chief Executive of Fair Trials International, said:

“Today’s decision would condemn Garry to spend two years in a Portuguese jail after a trial which a British Police Officer, in the court at the time, has described as a “farce” and which one British court has branded “unfair”. We will continue to fight against Garry’s extradition which would be a travesty of justice and make a mockery of Europe’s fast-track extradition system”

Garry’s trial in Portugal saw him arrested, tried and convicted all in the space of 48 hours. A British police officer at the trial has described how Garry was unable to instruct a lawyer and unable to understand the proceedings due to the poor quality of translation and interpretation provided. For this reason, a British court in 2005 found that his conviction in Portugal was unsafe and the trial had breached his fair trial rights. Garry has applied to the European Court of Human Rights to stop his extradition and has asked the British courts to prevent his extradition pending the European Court’s decision. The High Court’s judgment is awaited.

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Notes to Editors

• Garry Mann, a 52-year-old former fireman from Kent, attended the Euro 2004 football tournament in Portugal. While Garry Mann was spending the night with friends in a bar in Albufeira, a riot took place in a nearby street. Garry Mann was arrested on 15 June 2004, together with other suspects, some 4 hours after the riot.
   
• On 16 June 2004 – less than 48 hours after his arrest – Garry was convicted and sentenced to 2 years imprisonment. As reported by a British police officer in attendance, the trial in Portugal clearly breached Garry’s right to a fair trial, with:
  - Poor quality interpretation meaning that the defendants could not follow or participate in the trial. According to the UK police officer the trial interpreter was “a hairdresser from down the road to where the court was situated [and] a friend of the judge’s wife...”;
  - Inadequate legal representation (1 lawyer for 12 defendants);
  - No opportunity to prepare a defence (the trial having taken place within less than 48 hours of Garry Mann’s arrest) or to instruct his own lawyer.
   
• On 18 June 2004, Garry consented to his deportation to the UK after reportedly being told by the Portuguese authorities that the sentence would not be carried out if he agreed to voluntary deportation. He was then escorted to the airport by the Portuguese authorities and sent back to the UK without having to serve any time in prison in Portugal.
  Upon his return to the UK, Garry Mann’s case received significant public attention when David Blunkett, the then Home Secretary, claimed that he would “nail this individual”. The Chief of Metropolitan police then applied for a worldwide football banning order to prevent Garry from travelling abroad to attend football matches. On 3 August 2005, Justice Stephen Day refused to grant the order, concluding Garry’s trial in Portugal was “so unfair as to be incompatible with the respondents’ right to a fair trial.”
   
• On 6 October 2008, more than four years after Garry was deported from Portugal, British police arrested him under a European Arrest Warrant issued by the Portuguese Judicial Authorities. His extradition was ordered by the City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 18 August 2009.
   
• Garry now has no right to appeal against his unsafe conviction and he will not be granted a new hearing in Portugal; if he is extradited he will be sent to prison in Portugal to serve a 2 year sentence. Garry’s legal team has made a number of legal challenges to the extradition:
  - They applied to the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) and asked them to prevent his extradition as it would violate his human rights. This application was rejected. The High Court has been asked to overturn SOCA’s refusal and to declare that the extradition would violate his right to a fair trial.
  - The Magistrates’ Court was asked to reopen the case and reconsider its initial decision but refused to do so. The High Court has been asked to require the Magistrates’ Court to reopen the case so new evidence could be considered and a new decision on Garry’s extradition could be made in light of this evidence.
  - An application has been made to the European Court of Human Rights. The High Court has been asked to prevent the extradition until the European Court has made a decision on whether or not the extradition would violate Garry’s human rights. Should this not be granted, the High Court has also been asked to permit Garry to serve the sentence in the UK rather than in Portugal.
   
• In today’s judgment, the High Court has rejected the two first legal challenges and has granted a 14 day stay of extradition.
   
• Fair Trials International has serious concerns about the European Arrest Warrant. In practice, the system has been interpreted as leaving no scope for the British courts to prevent an extradition even where, as in this case, it would lead to clear injustice. Garry’s case also demonstrates the need to better protect defence rights in Europe.