R Harrison v Spanish Judicial Authority
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judge | MR JUSTICE CALVERT-SMITH |
| Judgment Date | 16 December 2011 |
| Neutral Citation | [2011] EWHC 3727 (Admin) |
| Docket Number | CO/6099/2011 |
| Court | Queen's Bench Division (Administrative Court) |
| Date | 16 December 2011 |
[2011] EWHC 3727 (Admin)
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE
QUEEN'S BENCH DIVISION
THE ADMINISTRATIVE COURT
Royal Courts of Justice
Strand
London WC2A 2LL
Mr Justice Calvert Smith
CO/6099/2011
Miss H Pye (instructed by Kaim Todner) appeared on behalf of the Claimant
Mr J Stansfeld (instructed by CPS) appeared on behalf of the Defendant
This appellant was arrested on 10th March 2011 pursuant to an European Arrest Warrant which had been issued on 19th October 2010 and certified by the Serious Organised Crime Agency on 26th February 2011. Three months or so later, on 23rd June 2011, following a contested hearing, District Judge Zani ordered the extradition of the appellant to Spain.
Two grounds were put forward to the District Judge in opposition to the order, the first based on the passage of time and section 14 of the Extradition Act 2003 and the second based on his medical condition, under section 25. The second ground has been dropped for the purposes of this appeal as a separate ground but is prayed in aid in support of the first ground under the heading of "Oppression".
The appellant was arrested in Spain on 19th August 2000. The European Arrest Warrant describes the circumstances of the arrest as follows in the summary:
"On 19/8/2000 at about 11.30 pm, a civil guard patrol car located a Nissan [the registration number given] leaving the car park of the residential area in … The car was being driven by Daniel Harrison. Lloyd Seymour Pinnock was the co-driver and Jacque Cardolos, who gave the alias of Mark Chester was sitting in the back. When they noticed the presence of the civil guard the car tried to reverse and that led that it was intercepted by the civil guard and then that Lloyd Seymour passed a bag to the passenger in the back. The bag contained 910 MDMA pills with a net weight of 246.62 grams, an average purity of 34%. At the moment of the arrest Jacque Cardolos tried to run away on foot and was overpowered by the police."
Following his arrest the appellant was held in custody until, it seems, 4th September 2000 when a member of his family deposited money to the value in English money of £10,000 at the Spanish court. Following the deposit of that money the appellant's passport was released.
In his statement, made for the purposes of the extradition hearing and as to which he gave notice, the appellant said:
"I went to Ibiza for a holiday on 19th August 2000. I was then going to start working there, as I met a man who offered me a job in a nightclub, running the music et cetera. On 19th August I was driving in Ibiza when the civil guard stopped me. Upon being stopped both passengers in my car, Mark Chester and Lloyd Seymour, ran away. The police grabbed me and put me on the floor. I was then taken to a police station…
I didn't go on holiday with Lloyd Seymour or Mark Chester, I just met them that day and they asked me to give them a lift as I had a car."
He then described how he appeared at court and having done so was taken back to prison, and once the £10,000 had been paid, he was told he could go and he was released. He alleged, and repeated this in evidence:
"The court in Spain didn't tell me anything, they didn't tell me I had to attend court again or anything to that effect. As far as I am aware everything was resolved once I paid £10,000 to the police. As soon as I was let out of prison I went to my apartment and packed my bags to come home. I wanted to leave as soon as possible. The incident had broken my spirit so I wanted to get home straightaway. I no longer wanted to work at the nightclub and I left a few days after the initial arrest."
He then went on to say that since returning to this country he had been living openly under his real name at his mother's address and then at an address in the same street and that he has five children here in England. He does not live with his family but sees them regularly.
So Mr Harrison's evidence was that he had come to Spain to get a job, but that following his arrest he decided not to take the job up and then came back to this country.
The principal issue on this appeal is the question of the District Judge's finding in respect of the deposit of £10,000 and Mr Harrison's perception of what had happened. In order to supplement the information contained in a warrant the Spanish authorities provided a supplementary statement which read so far as relevant:
"As stated in the European Arrest Warrant he was arrested on 19/8/2000. When he was released he was informed about his duties resulting from that situation since the judicial liability resulting from this case still pending as this case would...
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