The High Court has refused to extradite Martin John Kerrigan to England over allegations arising from a 1993 bank robbery in Northwood, Middlesex.
Kerrigan had been arrested in Ireland in January 2004 on three warrants. Two concerned alleged robberies at a bank on 9 August 1993, including the robbery of a customer. The third concerned alleged possession of a firearm or imitation firearm with intent to commit robbery. Extradition orders were made in July 2004, but Kerrigan sought his release under section 50 of the Extradition Act 1965.
Ms Justice Dunne found that a considerable period had passed since the alleged offences and that the authorities had not satisfactorily explained the delay. Evidence indicated that Kerrigan was identified as a suspect in 2002, but warrants were not obtained until November 2003. The judge also found gaps in the evidence about efforts during the original robbery investigation to identify the second suspect.
A separate issue concerned the investigation into the disappearance and murder of Catherine Corridan. Kerrigan had cooperated with British police inquiries and provided a DNA sample. He said officers later showed him a robbery photograph and told him that it could effectively be buried if he helped persuade his brother Samuel to cooperate in the murder investigation.
The judge accepted Kerrigan's evidence on that issue. She also accepted evidence from his wife that a police officer later confirmed during a telephone call that extradition proceedings would be dropped following Samuel Kerrigan's cooperation. Relevant officers did not provide evidence directly contradicting those accounts.
Ms Justice Dunne concluded that extradition had been used improperly as pressure in the separate murder investigation.
She also considered Kerrigan's open residence in Ireland since 1993 and his wife's significant mental health difficulties, which had been aggravated by the extradition proceedings.
Taking the circumstances together, the court held that extradition would be unjust, oppressive and invidious and granted Kerrigan's application for release.