The High Court has refused to surrender a County Cork man to Poland after finding a real risk that deficiencies in his medical treatment there could have life-threatening consequences.
Tomasz Leszek Nowakowski was sought under a European arrest warrant issued in September 2013. The warrant related to two offences involving his father in Wojnowo, Poland, in 2005 and 2006. A Polish court imposed one year and four months’ imprisonment in April 2006, with one year, one month and 16 days remaining to be served.
Nowakowski had lived in Ireland since 2008 and was working on a farm in County Cork. He lived with his partner and two children. He argued that surrender would interfere disproportionately with their family life and would also expose him to inhuman or degrading treatment because of his health.
Mr Justice Hunt rejected the family-life argument, finding only the ordinary and foreseeable disruption caused by surrender.
The medical objection succeeded. Independent evidence from consultant haematologist Dr Susan O’Shea established that Nowakowski had congenital anti-thrombin deficiency, a rare and serious clotting disorder requiring lifelong anticoagulation. He had previously suffered portal vein thrombosis requiring bowel surgery and also had a chronic venous ulcer.
The High Court sought information from Poland about whether his specific treatment regime, including Warfarin monitoring, specialist haematology care and ulcer treatment, would be available in prison.
The Polish authorities gave general assurances about prison healthcare and said details of Dr O’Shea’s treatment instructions would be passed to the relevant prison service. The judge found those responses insufficient. They did not clearly confirm that the prescribed specialist care would actually be provided.
Because interruption or inadequate monitoring of Nowakowski’s anticoagulation could cause another potentially fatal thrombosis, the court found a real risk of inhuman or degrading treatment and refused surrender on that basis.