PORTUGAL DROPS GRAHAM MITCHELL EXTRADITION!!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-18116917

Portugal drops Graham Mitchell extradition request

An extradition request for a Kent man wanted in Portugal for a crime he was cleared of in 1995 has been dropped.

Graham Mitchell was acquitted with another man of attempting to murder a German tourist in the Algarve but the decision was overturned a year later.

His lawyers said Portugal had dropped the charges against him due to the amount of time that had passed.

Mr Mitchell, 49, from Canterbury, had been contesting his extradition to Portugal in the UK courts.

He said he was thrilled the criminal charges against him had been removed.

"Events since 6 March have brought back many unpleasant memories and my health has suffered as a result. My family and I have been through hell.

"I'd like to thank my legal team, family, friends and colleagues - the support I have received has made the whole episode slightly more bearable," Mr Mitchell said.

Passports returned

Along with his friend Warren Tozer, he had been accused of trying to kill 26-year-old Andre Jorling, who was left paralysed from the waist down after falling over a 12ft (3.5m) sea wall in 1994.

After spending more than a year in custody, the men were cleared of attempted murder by judges at a trial in Albufeira.

They were given back their passports and allowed to return to the UK.


Graham Mitchell and Warren Tozer were cleared of attempted murder 17 years ago


However, Portugal's Supreme Court annulled the lower court's decision in 1996 and ordered that a retrial should take place.

Mr Mitchell, a photographer, said he had been unaware of the ruling.

A warrant was issued at the time to bring the men back to Portugal but it never happened.

A new European Arrest Warrant was issued in December 2008 but it was only in March this year that Mr Mitchell was arrested by UK officers.

He maintained he could not receive a fair trial and that without his co-defendant, who was last heard of in Australia, he would not be able to mount a defence.

It is understood there had been no further contact between the Portuguese authorities and Mr Tozer.

Football fan extradited

Jago Russell, chief executive of Fair Trials International, said it was pleased the Portuguese authorities had "finally seen sense and brought Graham's needless ordeal to an end".

"It would have been a grave injustice if the EU's fast track extradition system had been used to subject Graham to another trial in Portugal, so many years after he was acquitted," he said.

"Prosecutors should think twice before issuing these tick-box extradition requests and reforms must be made now to stop future cases of injustice."

In 2010, football supporter Garry Mann, also from Kent, was extradited to Portugal to serve a prison term for his role in a riot during Euro 2004.

He returned to the UK a year later to serve the remainder of his sentence following a prison transfer.

The former firefighter had denied being involved in the fight and claimed he did not receive a fair trial in Albufeira.

At long last, some good news - and a bit of sense and reason.

Who can forget Morais ranting:

That man escaped Portuguese Justice, he is considered as a fugitive from justice and has to be extradited

Totally ignoring the fact that Mr Mitchell and his friend had already been CLEARED, and wasn't a fugitive from anything.

And now it turns out, hasn't been extradited.

Which rather shows how much she knows about anything.

Morais is becoming more and more unhinged of late, probably because she is always wrong, and Potrugal is becoming a laughing stock.
They want to sort out their own Criminals in The PJ before they start issuing EAWs on trumped up charges.

What would she know about innocence or guilt anyway? She seems to always be on the wrong side which makes her judgment highly questionable.

Fantastic news!!!

excellent news indeed.

I should think so too

Oh well, they only wasted a few hundred thousand Euro on this case.
Is it any wonder Portugal are going bust?

What with stupid court cases that take years for a verdict, corruption from all levels, and judges who have to do as they are told by the MAFIA or else

Then the UK help bail them out

And I'm sorry to say, their Prime Minister seems about as good as a chocolate fire guard!

Chatelaine got a bit shirty on Anna Raccoon about the dissing of Portugal. So I told her what for, about all of The Arguidos in The PJ and Ex PJ. You might think she would have the sense to mind her own business. No one thinks that issuing a EAW for Graham Mitchell was even remotely acceptable.

Oh, so she did. Still, what else do you expect from someone who gives money to Bennett?

Seriously, what is wrong with people like that? Can they not see that police corruption, like child abuse, is unacceptable ANYWHERE, and Portugal does not get excused?

The reason Portugal is criticised so much is that it just goes on, and on, and on, and nothing is ever done about it.

I've noticed that not one of the Gonc Cult has said a single word about the judge who interfered in the trial of the alleged abductor of Rui Pedro. Their silence about that told its own story.

I certainly think that Chatelaine needs to be looked at. Who does she think she is? She certainly isn't Portuguese, or even French. Just a nasty Bennett Lover who was involved in what Anorack did to Anna Raccoon. God knows how Sue ever forgave her. But I have got her number. And I will be jumping on her at every opportunity. She is just another horrible Pitch Forker, although I don't think that Sue would want me to. Tough shit. I do this for myself sometimes.