Courts / Dublin / Report

High Court orders extradition of two convicted murderers but puts stay on surrender

Date
2014-11-18

Stage
Appeal

Primary locality
Dublin

County
Dublin

Summary

The High Court in Dublin has ordered the extradition of two convicted murderers to the United Kingdom, though a stay has been placed on their surrender pending appeal. Mr Justice John Edwards directed that Anthony Craig, aged 66, and Michael Anthony Balmer, aged 62, be surrendered to UK authorities. Craig was convicted of murder in Blackburn in 1973, while Balmer received a life sentence in 1984 for a fatal attack in Devon. Craig, who escaped from British custody after serving 28 years and subsequently lived in Cork and Leitrim, was arrested in Dublin in February 2013. Balmer, released on licence in 2012, was arrested in Cork after his licence was revoked. The judge granted Craig bail under strict conditions during the stay. Mr Justice Edwards determined that constitutional questions raised by the defence warranted referral to the Supreme Court as matters of exceptional public importance.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: High Court orders extradition of two convicted murderers but puts stay on surrender. Charges or matters: murdering another man in a park in Blackburn on November 3, 1973, to the UK authorities. Procedural stage: appeal. Findings: Convicted

When:

November 3, 1973 Other
July 28 1983 Other
October 7 Hearing Or Sentence
February 14, 2013 Incident
March 2012 Incident
2014-11-18 Publication

Case subjects

Anthony Craig

Appellant

Charges: murdering another man in a park in Blackburn on November 3, 1973, to the UK authorities (Proven)

Finding: Convicted

Outcome: Convicted; On a previous occasion counsel for Craig, Mr Conor Devally SC, said that where preventative measures of detention exist under the law of another nation, a question arose as to whether an order transferring a person to such a regime, accords to the law under our constitution.

Michael Anthony Balmer

Appellant

Outcome: Balmer, with a last address in Cornwall, England, was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1984 for attacking and killing a woman in her home on the evening of July 28 1983 in Devon, England. Counsel for Mr Balmer, Patrick McGrath SC, previously told the court that his client had served the punitive element of his sentence and his surrender on grounds of public protection meant his client would be subjected to preventative detention.