Fan facing jail as appeal bid fails

England fan Garry Mann's hopes of avoiding two years in a Portuguese jail were dashed yesterday when human rights judges rejected a legal challenge to his extradition.

Nearly six years after being tried and convicted over a riot at the Euro 2004 tournament, the former Kent fireman had asked the European Court of Human Rights to block his removal to serve the jail term in Albufeira.

But Fair Trials International, a campaign group supporting his case, said the judges in Strasbourg had refused to intervene.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Chief executive Jago Russell said: "Garry Mann could be on a flight as soon as tomorrow, sent to serve two years in a Portuguese jail after what is widely recognised was a grossly unfair trial.

"It is a travesty of justice that the British courts, the government and now the European Court of Human Rights appear happy to sit back and let this happen."

The group urged the UK courts or Government to step in to stop Mr Mann's extradition.

The Portuguese authorities originally agreed to deport Mr Mann instead of making him serve his sentence. But 18 months ago they used the fast-track European extradition warrant system to summon him back.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

British police and courts had no choice but to agree to the request, even though Mr Mann's trial and conviction were condemned by a senior judge as "a serious injustice".

The European Court of Human Rights was asked to issue an injunction halting extradition pending a full hearing into whether the handling of Mr Mann's trial and conviction amounted to a breach of his human rights.

Mr Mann, 52, says he was drinking with friends in a bar in Albufeira when a riot involving football fans began in a nearby street. He was arrested, tried and convicted within 48 hours.

He said he was only granted five minutes with a lawyer, could not understand the proceedings and did not know what charge he faced until after the hearing. A British police officer at the trial described it as a "farce".

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Three days after being sentenced to two years, he agreed to be deported on the understanding that his jail term would be waived if he left voluntarily.

Back in the UK, a police chief applied for a worldwide football banning order preventing Mr Mann travelling abroad for football matches.

Justice Stephen Day refused because, he said, the trial in Portugal had been "so unfair as to be incompatible with the respondent's right to a fair trial".

More than four years later, in October 2008, British police arrested Mr Mann, acting on a European arrest warrant issued in Portugal.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

British courts reluctantly rejected appeals, with High Court judge Lord Justice Moses declaring at a hearing in January that he could not "leave this application without remarking upon the inability of this court to rectify what appears to be a serious injustice to Mr Mann".

Lawyers representing Mann have submitted papers to the High Court in a last ditch attempt to stave off the action, based on evidence from the Foreign Office not previously heard in court.

Related topics: