Rapist opposes extradition to Ireland

A 53-year-old man who absconded from the mental facility in England he was sent to after he being convicted of raping a 18-year-old girl is opposing a bid by the UK authorities to have him returned, the High Court heard today.

The man, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, is wanted by the UK authorities who claimed that he absconded from a hospital he was sent after an English Court found that he had raped in July 1993.

The man, who is Irish-born, but had been living in the UK for some time.

He was convicted of raping and the assault occasioning actual bodily harm to a then 18 year old student in London.

A London court heard that shortly after befriending the girl he bought her for a drink. She consumed something that caused her to blackout.

When she awoke, some hours later, she discovered the man had removed her clothing, tied her up, was brandishing a knife, and had raped her.

Following his conviction the man was sent to a mental institute on foot of a Hospital order with restrictions on the grounds that he suffered from psychopathic disorder.

In November 2006 the man escaped from the hospital, through an open door, after he feigned illness. Last March he was detained by the gardaí in Dublin in connection with the rape of a women here.

Yesterday his Counsel, Aileen Donnelly SC, argued that to extradite the man would unconstitutional and a breach of the European extradition legislation.

Counsel said that the Hospital order, where a person can be detained indefinitely, was not a form of punishment and did not amount to a sentence.

The purpose of this order such is to treat a person with a mental illness.

Counsel argued that the man has already spent more time at the hospital that he would have had he been sent to prison for the offences he was convicted of.

Counsel also said that the Irish authorities had not sought the extradition of John Gallagher, the Co Donegal man who absconded from the Central Mental Hospital.

Gallagher was found guilty but insane of the 1988 murder of mother and daughter Ann and Annie Gillespie who he shot dead in the grounds of Sligo General Hospital.

In response counsel for the State Mr Robert Barron SC said that there were no reason why the man should not be extradited back to the UK.

He said that the man had been convicted in a court, a verdict which did not absolve the man of his responsibility.

Mr Justice Michael Peart reserved judgment in the matter.