THUG’S LEGAL BATTLE

Shock Liam Byrne extradition move as Kinahan cartel thug tries to dodge jail with ‘inhumane & degrading treatment’ claim

• Published: 17:10, 25 Sep 2023
• Updated: 21:02, 25 Sep 2023

ALLEGED Kinahan mobster Liam Byrne says his extradition to the UK should be rejected because he risks “inhumane and degrading treatment” in a British prison.

The claim is one of the key arguments his lawyer is using to persuade a Spanish court to refuse Britain’s request to hand him over.

Extradition expert Jaime Campaner is alleging there is a “real risk” Byrne’s fundamental right to physical and moral integrity will be in danger if his forced return goes ahead.

And he is also claiming the approval of the Irishman’s extradition would also violate his human rights because the only evidence against him are hacked messages on encrypted communications network Encrochat.

The arguments Spanish criminal lawyer Mr Campaner put forward to try to thwart Britain’s extradition request at Spain’s Audencia Nacional court last week have now emerged.

Byrne, held on June 4 on a UK-issued international arrest warrant at a restaurant in Alcudia as he ate dinner with family, watched the proceedings via videolink from the prison near Palma, where he remains in custody.

Suspected Kinahan gang member Jack Kavanagh’s separate extradition appeal was also held last Tuesday.

Spanish prosecutors formally backed the extradition of both men, wanted on suspicion of firearms offences, during the hearings.

Kavanagh, arrested at Malaga Airport on May 30 while transiting from Dubai to Turkey, will remain at a prison on the Costa del Sol while he awaits the ruling on his future.

Today it emerged the decision is likely to be delayed because a formal request has been sent to the Irish authorities asking them if they wish to prosecute the two men.

Mr Campaner has cited the rampant overcrowding in some UK prisons as reasons why he believes Byrne’s well-being would be put at risk.

Mr Campaner told the Audiencia Nacional it should refuse Britain’s extradition request if Ireland confirms it doesn’t want to extradite him.

And he is arguing that if the decision goes against Byrne, the UK should be made to say which prisons the alleged mobster will be held in both before and after any eventual conviction.

The 42-year-old was held after flying to Majorca for a family holiday from his hideout in Dubai.

OPPOSING RETURN

He said he was opposing his forced return to Britain at an initial hearing less than 48 hours after his arrest, paving the way for last week’s appeal hearing.

Britain’s National Crime Agency revealed Jack Kavanagh had been held days earlier when it confirmed Liam Byrne, whose brother David was shot dead in the February 2016 Regency Hotel attack in Dublin, was in custody.

The NCA says both men were part of a plot spearheaded by Jack’s dad Thomas ‘Bomber’ Kavanagh to plant arms in the North and direct authorities to find them so he could get a reduced sentence on drug charges he was facing.