An Irish sex offender who fled the United States after claiming the "inhumane" conditions of his release forced him to live a violent homeless camp has been granted a temporary reprieve in his fight against extradition back across the Atlantic.
The High Court has previously ruled there was no basis to prevent the authorities in this country from returning Martin Jude Wall (46) to the US.
Wall appealed that decision and in a judgment issued on Thursday, Ms Justice Aileen Donnelly said the Court of Appeal required more information regarding claims the appellant would be subject to inhumane treatment if returned to the US before making its decision.
Police sting
Wall had been caught in a police sting in the State of Georgia after he sent a nude selfie to an Internet chatroom user he believed was 13-year-old girl.
He was later sentenced to a detention period of not more than a year and not less than 240 days for attempting to entice a child for indecent purposes.
Wall, whose last address in Ireland was in Clontarf, Dublin, returned to Ireland while on probation, unhappy with the conditions imposed on him as a sex offender which he claimed had forced him into homelessness and prevented him from working.
He since has been fighting attempts to send him back to the State of Georgia where he is wanted by the Chatham County Sheriff's office for an alleged breach of his bail conditions.
Last October, Mr Justice Paul Burns ruled at the High Court that there was no basis to refuse Wall's surrender to US authorities and ordered his return.
Appeal
Wall, who was remanded in custody last November, appealed Mr Justice Burns’ decision, claiming the judge failed “to carry out any further analysis as to whether the appellant would be subject to inhumane and degrading treatment” on his return to the US.
At a February 8th hearing at the Court of Appeal, the three-judge court was told that convicted sex offenders in State of Georgia were not allowed to live with 300 metres of any place where children might congregate.
This ruling, the court was told, prevented Wall from residing with 300 metres of a variety of places including schools, churches, shopping malls, and bus stops, and he was effectively homeless as a result.
In Thursday's judgment, Ms Justice Donnelly ruled the three-judge court required additional information before making a decision regarding Mr Justice Burns’ decision.
Ms Justice Donnelly had heard Wall’s appeal along with Court President Mr Justice George Birmingham and Mr Justice John Edwards.
She stated that it was important “to bear in mind that the risk of inhuman and degrading treatment relied upon by the appellant” relied upon a risk he would be “subject to the sex offender’s regime which would leave him living in conditions of such abject poverty and homelessness where the risk of violence was constant that it would amount to inhuman and degrading treatment”.
Ms Justice Donnelly also stated the appeal court has not decided as to whether the circumstances in which Wall said found himself on probation would “amount to inhuman and degrading treatment” and was requesting further submissions from both parties.
A date for a future hearing will be set on Friday, the judge added.
