Martin Jude Wall loses appeal against extradition to US

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

Martin Jude Wall lost his appeal against extradition to the United States in a Court of Appeal judgment delivered on 31 May 2022. The decision revived a High Court order for his extradition.

The High Court had previously been told that Wall pleaded guilty in 2012, through a plea bargain, to attempting to entice a child for indecent purposes. The supposed 13-year-old girl was a fictitious persona created by US police officers. Wall was detained after travelling to meet the person he believed was the girl.

Wall was arrested in Ireland in December 2020 on a warrant issued by Georgia. The report said he was being held at Midlands Prison.

At an appeal hearing in April 2022, Shane Costelloe SC, for Wall, argued that his client faced a real risk of a breach of his rights under Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights if returned to the US. He said Wall would face a probation regime under which he could be left living in a tent beside railway tracks, exposed to violence and required to dig a toilet.

Patrick McGrath SC, for the Attorney General, said Wall would be incarcerated for some time if returned and that the possibility of probation was too remote and speculative. He also said a house had been available to Wall at some stage.

Delivering judgment, Ms Justice Aileen Donnelly said the most likely outcome on Wall’s return was a term of imprisonment. She also observed that he was not required to live in Savannah and could live and seek work elsewhere in Georgia. She sat with Court of Appeal President Mr Justice George Birmingham and Mr Justice John Edwards. Mr Justice Birmingham said Mr Justice Paul Burns’ High Court extradition ruling was revived.