A Spanish national who attempted to run from gardaí in Dublin Airport while he was being extradited has been sentenced to eight months in prison.
Rafik Ben Salah (36), of no fixed abode, appeared before Judge Elma Sheahan in the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on Friday, having previously pleaded guilty to attempting to escape garda custody while being extradited to Spain on December 9th 2022.
Garda Robert Comerford, attached to the garda extradition unit, told the court that he and colleagues attempted to extradite Salah on December 9th 2022, on the foot of a European Arrest Warrant.
Gda Comerford and several colleagues collected Salah from the Midlands Prison and drove in a van to Dublin Airport.
They handed Salah over to Spanish police near the aircraft that was going to take him to Spain. Gda Comerford was halfway up the stairs to the flight when he heard someone shout, “He's running”.
He then saw Salah had broken loose of his bonds and was sprinting away. Gardaí and the Spanish police officers ran after him in pursuit.
People at the airport pointed in the direction where he ran when they temporarily lost sight of him.
Gda Comerford heard shouting and saw one of the Spanish police officers pointing to a stairwell. He entered and saw a colleague struggling with Salah on the steps.
Salah was resisting violently. He was shouting and kicking out. Three gardaí were eventually able to detain him.
At this point, the Spanish police officers refused to take him on the plane to Spain. They boarded it themselves and left the country.
Another extradition order was granted, and on December 22nd 2022, Gda Comerford and colleagues tried again.
Before the second attempt at extradition, gardaí checked in on Salah in his cell. They saw he had self-harmed and had cuts across his stomach. The injuries weren't deemed to be serious, and he was considered fit to travel.
Salah was brought to a search area by the aircraft when gardai became aware of a strong smell. They then discovered Salah had defecated himself.
They met with the Spanish police officers, told them of the situation, and the Spanish police spoke with the captain of the flight, which was due to take Salah to Spain. The captain refused to let Salah board, so the Spanish police left Ireland, and the extradition warrant was withdrawn.
Ronan Prendergast BL, defending, said his client came to Europe for work and says his actions speak “to someone who was effectively desperate to remain in this jurisdiction.”
He said Salah has been in custody for the vast majority of his time in Ireland, and “that time has been difficult for him.” He said his client was “acting out of desperation.”
Salah has previous convictions in both Ireland and Germany, including for robbery, theft, unauthorized entry, trafficking of narcotics, assault, harassment, and criminal damage.
He previously served a 21-month sentence in Ireland for assault causing harm to a woman who was seven months pregnant.
In sentencing, Judge Elma Sheahan highlighted that Salah was only at large for a short period of time due to the immediate response of the gardaí. She placed the offending at the low end of the scale and set a headline line sentence of ten months.
Judge Sheahan highlighted the guilty plea and that serving time in an Irish prison as a non-national can be difficult as a mitigating factor. She sentenced Salah to eight months in prison backdated to when he went into custody earlier this year.
