The Supreme Court has refused to extradite John McNally to Northern Ireland over an alleged Belfast robbery dating from January 1989, finding that his return after more than a decade would be oppressive.
McNally, a Belfast native, was accused of taking part in a robbery on 6 January 1989. He was arrested and granted bail but failed to attend an arraignment hearing that September. He came to this jurisdiction and, from January 1990, lived openly in Dublin.
For much of the next decade he received unemployment assistance through the Ballymun social welfare office. Gardaí knew where he lived and called to his home on several occasions. He married in 1995, had a child and bought a family home with his wife. By the time of the proceedings, he was caring for their child full-time while his wife worked.
The Northern Ireland authorities made no enquiries in this jurisdiction between 1989 and 1996. McNally’s whereabouts emerged during a review of outstanding warrants in October 1996. A further 17 months passed before a Northern Ireland warrant seeking extradition was issued in March 1998.
The High Court had rejected McNally’s application for release and directed his extradition. On appeal, the Supreme Court took a different view.
Mrs Justice McGuinness held that the lapse of time was sufficient to engage the statutory protection in section 50(2)(bbb) of the Extradition Act 1965. She also found exceptional circumstances, particularly the authorities’ dilatoriness, McNally’s open residence and his settled family life.
The court accepted that McNally had initially caused the situation by absconding while on bail. However, that had to be balanced against the authorities’ later inactivity.
The judge concluded that extradition was not necessarily unjust, but would be oppressive given the full circumstances. The appeal was allowed and McNally’s release ordered.