Igbinovia v President of the Criminal Division (Seccion Segunda De La Audencia Provincial De Santa Cruz De Tenerife)
2014
ADMINISTRATIVE COURT
UK
CORAM
- MR JUSTICE SIMON
Areas of Law
- Criminal Law and Procedure
- Human Rights Law
- Immigration Law
2014
ADMINISTRATIVE COURT
UK
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
This case involved an appeal against the extradition of a Nigerian citizen from the UK to Spain to serve the remainder of his cocaine importation sentence. The appellant claimed he had been trafficked and coerced into the crime. The UK court rejected his trafficking claims, finding his evidence unreliable. Issues of procedural errors and the impact of extradition on his family were raised, but the appeal was dismissed, affirming the decision to extradite based on legal principles related to abuse of process, expedience in extradition matters, and balancing private rights against public interest.
J U D G M E N T
Tuesday 9 th December 2014
MR JUSTICE SIMON:
1. This is an appeal from the decision of District Judge Snow ordering the appellant's extradition to Spain to serve the balance of a sentence of imprisonment for the importation of cocaine.
2. The facts, as found by the District Judge in [24] of his Ruling are that the appellant (now aged 45) was born in Nigeria and is a Nigerian citizen. He travelled to Italy in 2005 and, in 2006, he moved to Spain, where he met a woman whom he married. During the evening of 8 th December 2006 he (accompanied by two other men) travelled to Santa Cruz in Tenerife on a boat from Gran Canaria. On arrival they were questioned by the police and were unable to give a convincing explanation for their visit. They were examined and, in the course of the examination, each of them expelled plastic capsules which had been swallowed. The appellant expelled 64 capsules, containing 951.68 grams of cocaine of 49.4% purity, with a value of 63,679 euros.
3. He was charged with drug importation, pleaded guilty to the offence and was sentenced on 20 th September 2007 to a term of six years' imprisonment and a fine. He served much of this sentence in closed conditions, but was let out on temporary release which expired on 29 th September 2011. He failed to return to prison to serve the remaining days of his sentence.
4. The District Judge found that the appellant's knowing and deliberate failure to return to prison made him a fugitive from justice. Having left Spain he travelled across Europe and was eventually smuggled into the United Kingdom.
5. He met his partner J in 2012. She has dual Nigerian and Italian citizenship. She has a son aged 16 (C) and a daughter (G) aged 7. She and the appellant also have a son (P) who is now aged 21 months. The appellant shares the care of this child and his partner's two other children, all of whom he treats as his own.
6. The European Arrest Warrant was issued on 17 th October 2011 (within a month of his absconding), and was certified on 13 th January 2013.
7. On 5 th July 2014 the appellant applied to the Home Office for a residency permit.
8. On 25 th July he was arrested on the European Arrest Warrant.
9. On 26 th August he made a request for a referral to the National Referral Mechanism ("NRM") through the Salvation Army. It will be necessary to say something further about the NRM, but at this stage it is only necessary to say that it is the domestic authority within t