UK '˜will be haven for criminals if we leave Europe'

HUNDREDS of suspected criminals in Yorkshire have been deported in the last five years under an arrest warrant scheme which campaigners say would be put at risk by a British exit from the European Union.
By The Newsroom
Published 23rd May 2016, 10:32 BST
Updated 23rd May 2016, 11:36 BST
West Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner Mark Burns-WilliamsonWest Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner Mark Burns-Williamson
West Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner Mark Burns-Williamson

Between 2010 and 2015, the European Arrest Warrant (EAW) was used on 564 occasions to help extradite mostly foreign criminals who were caught by one of the region’s police forces.

During the same period, 70 suspects were extradited back to Yorkshire and the Humber from other countries in the European Union to face trial, according to official statistics.

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Figures including the former Association of Chief Police Officers president Hugh Orde say a vote to leave in next month’s EU membership referendum could put public safety at risk by allowing dangerous criminals to escape justice.

Mark Burns-Williamson, Labour Police and Crime Commissioner for West Yorkshire, said: “Criminals are being brought to justice here in West Yorkshire because of the European Arrest Warrant.”

Jack Dromey MP, shadow 
police minister, said: “Those 
who commit horrific crimes here in Yorkshire could escape justice without European co-operation.

“Brexit would make Britain a haven for Europe’s worst criminals and make it much more difficult for British officers to bring fleeing offenders back.”

He said the EAW speeds up the time it takes to get suspects back to face justice and that the EU is crucial to our national security.