Barry McArdle released after manslaughter warrant ruled invalid

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Barry McArdle was released after the High Court in Dublin refused surrender on 8 July 2019 over a European Arrest Warrant linked to a 13-year manslaughter sentence. The warrant concerned a Rotterdam killing in 2009, while McArdle had also received two years for disposing of Keith Ennis’s body. He had been arrested in May and remained in custody after bail was refused.

Ms Justice Tara Burns ruled that the warrant was invalid because it had been issued by the Dutch Public Prosecutor, which was not sufficiently independent under EU law. She directed McArdle’s immediate release from custody.

McArdle had been acquitted of stabbing Mr Ennis at the original trial, but Dutch authorities later appealed that result and he was sentenced in absentia by the Amsterdam Court of Appeal. An appeal was pending before the Dutch Supreme Court.