Francis Lanigan loses extradition fight over alleged murder

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

Francis Lanigan was to be returned to Northern Ireland after his extradition challenge ended. At the High Court on 21 January 2019, Ms Justice Deirdre Murphy lifted the stay on his surrender.

He was wanted on charges of murder and possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life. The offences related to the alleged murder of John Knocker, who was shot dead in a hotel car park in Dungannon on 31 May 1998.

Lanigan had contested extradition on grounds that his life would be at risk from both loyalist and republican paramilitaries. He disputed the Northern Ireland authorities’ account of the circumstances of John Knocker’s death.

The High Court made a surrender order in 2015, which was upheld on appeal. Lanigan also challenged the constitutionality of the European Arrest Warrant Act, involving a referral of questions to the European Court of Justice. Two applications under Article 40 of the Constitution challenging the legality of his detention had failed.

The Supreme Court had refused the previous week to hear an appeal seeking to have issues referred to the European Court of Justice, following the Court of Appeal’s refusal to do so. Lanigan had been on bail, with surrender stayed pending the outcome of any Supreme Court appeal.

Robert Barron SC, for the State, sought the lifting of the stay. Kieran Kelly BL, for Lanigan, said his client’s action had ended and his side was not contesting the application.