I’M VICTIM OF A WITCH HUNT, SAYS ENGLAND FAN GARRY MANN EXTRADITED OVER EURO 2004

THE INDEPENDENT - ROBERT VERKAIK

I'm victim of a witch hunt, says England fan Garry Mann extradited over Euro 2004 riot.

An England football fan is to be extradited to Portugal to serve a two-year prison sentence after losing his court battle to stay in Britain.

Garry Mann, 52, from Faversham, Kent, was found guilty by a Portuguese court of taking part in in a riot in Albufeira during Euro 2004. Yesterday, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) rejected his emergency appeal against extradition even though judges in the UK had found serious flaws in the Portuguese criminal trial process.

Mr Mann told a press conference yesterday that he felt let down by the judicial process. "I am proud to be English but sad and embarrassed that this Government and its laws have not stood up for me as an English citizen," he said. "This has been a witch hunt from beginning to end. The Portuguese and British crown prosecution services should not be embarrassed but ashamed of their actions."

Jago Russell, the chief executive of Fair Trials International (FTI), said: "Garry Mann could be on a flight as soon as tomorrow, sent to serve two years in a Portuguese jail after what is widely recognised was a grossly unfair trial. It is a travesty of justice that the British courts, the Government and now the European Court of Human Rights appear happy to sit back and let this happen."