A Limerick man wanted in the UK for allegedly murdering a scooter rider by running him over in his BMW has consented to his extradition.
On Monday at an extradition sitting of the High Court, Fiona Murphy SC, for Keith Anthony McCarthy (41) said her client had consented to his surrender on two allegation warrants.
Mr McCarthy, who is also known as Keith Galvin, is accused of deliberately running down Kerrin Repman (29) on April 15, 2020, in Harwich when Mr Repman's motorbike was fatally struck by a BMW.
Mr McCarthy is also accused of grievous bodily harm to a 79-year-old pedestrian, who suffered multiple broken limbs, during the same incident.
At a previous hearing of the High Court, Ms Caroline Cummings BL, for the Minister for Justice, said that the charge was murder because Mr McCarthy was accused of "murder with a motor vehicle of a man on a scooter where the rider was deliberately killed".
Upon conviction, both charges carry a maximum of a life sentence, she told Mr Justice Paul Burns.
Warrant
A European Arrest Warrant (EAW) was issued for Mr McCarthy on November 27th, 2020, and he was arrested five days later in Midlands Prison, where he is serving a separate sentence.
However, Mr Brian Storan BL, responding, had said his client was legally "caught between two stools", in that Mr McCarthy had been arrested at a time when the UK was still in the EU and subject to the then Withdrawal Agreement.
Mr Storan had said that his client, should he be surrendered to the UK, would now be going to "a new entity" after the completion of Brexit on December 31, 2020, and counsel told the court that he wanted assurances about his client's rights.
Brexit
Mr Storan had argued that the EAW Act did "not apply to the new [post-Brexit Trade] agreement" between the EU and the UK and that his client was "in limbo". Counsel said that the UK was no longer subject to the EU framework agreement which underpins the EAW Act.
Counsel had sought clarification on two matters: whether or not his client could be charged with other alleged crimes if surrendered and whether Mr McCarthy would receive a reduction in any possible sentence in the UK for time already served in custody in Ireland. Counsel said it would be "unfair or unjust to surrender [Mr McCarthy] under a system no longer in place."
Ms Cummings had said that the UK had given an international commitment to operate the Extradition Act as if it were still a member and that it was still a party to the European Convention of Human Rights.
Statutory instrument
She said that, irrespective of leaving the EU, the UK had incorporated the extradition act into UK law in the form of the "Trade and Co-operation Agreement that" now exists between the EU and the UK.
At that February hearing, Mr Justice Burns had said that the court would write to the UK authorities to see clarity on the status of EAW warrants post-Brexit.
Last March, however, Minister for Justice Helen McEntee enacted a statutory instrument to incorporate the EAW system into the new Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the EU and the UK.
On Monday, Ms Murphy told Mr Justice Paul Burns that her client had now agreed to his surrender but requested that it be done after Christmas.
Mr Justice Burns then adjourned the matter to January 17th, 2022, and remanded Mr McCarthy in custody until then.
