Football fan loses extradition fight

England football fan Garry Mann yesterday lost his High Court battle against extradition to Portugal to serve a jail sentence but a judge said he was the victim "of what appears to be a serious injustice".

Last August a judge ordered the former firefighter, who was convicted of involvement in a riot during the Euro 2004 tournament, to be extradited to serve a two-year prison term.

Lawyers for Mann, 51, from Faversham, Kent, argued at the High Court in London that he did not have a fair trial over his alleged role in football-related violence in the Algarve resort of Albufeira.

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Yesterday Lord Justice Moses, sitting with Mr Justice Hickinbottom, said the apparent injustice he suffered did not stem from what Mr Mann contended to have been an unfair and unlawful hearing.

In fact he had been deprived of proper legal assistance "by two sets of lawyers in two separate jurisdictions on two distinct occasions".

Lord Justice Moses said the High Court was powerless to act because it had no jurisdiction.

The judge expressed the hope that either the European Court of Human Rights would intervene or the diplomatic authorities in the UK or Portugal "can strive to achieve some measure of justice for Mr Mann, a justice of which he as been so signally deprived by those on whom he had previously relied".

He gave Mr Mann's legal team 14 days in which to appeal.

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Lord Justice Moses made clear that it was the controversial 2003 Extradition Act, which brought in a fast-track extradition process, which had left the High Court powerless to intervene following the procedural delays of Mr Mann's former lawyers.

Mr Mann was convicted in Albufeira of taking part in a riot in June 2004 but was allowed to leave the country. An arrest warrant was issued in October 2008.