the legal options available to former investment broker, Mr Tony Taylor, who is expected to challenge the order by Brighton Magistrates' Court to extradite him to Ireland on 15 warrants including fraudulent conversion, are "very, very few", according to a specialist in British extradition law.
"I would have thought that he was highly unlikely to succeed because there are few grounds, if any, on which to appeal," Mr James Hines said yesterday. Under the Backing of Warrants Republic of Ireland Act 1965, which is central to Mr Taylor's case, there is no requirement for the stipendiary magistrate to receive evidence related to the charges on the warrants. Furthermore, the magistrate must only be satisfied that the charges on the extradition warrants correspond with indictable offences in England and Wales. Once that aspect of the warrants has been verified, as they were when Mr Taylor appeared at Brighton Magistrates' Court on Thursday, the magistrate must then order the delivery of the person into the custody of the Garda. However, according to legal procedure, the magistrate can then grant 15 days "grace" during which Mr Taylor can mount an appeal.
Mr Taylor may choose to instruct his counsel to make an application for a writ of habeas corpus, claiming that he is being wrongly held in custody. If such a writ is allowed, Mr Taylor could cite political grounds for his appeal against his return to Ireland. But that is unlikely to be accepted, according to Mr Hines, given that the issue was not raised in the magistrates court.
Other restrictions on which Taylor could base his appeal are those of race, nationality or religion, but due to the nature of the warrants, these too are said to be unlikely to succeed.
"This is not strictly an extradition case, the issue is more the recognition of a police warrant," explained Mr Hines. "He could consider going to Europe by saying that since Ireland and the UK are both signatories to the European Convention on Human Rights the case should proceed on the basis of extradition. He could say various court procedures need to be gone through instead of just arresting him and sending him back to Ireland immediately." Mr Taylor's solicitor, Mr Alastair Harper, refused yesterday to discuss his client's plans to challenge the Irish warrants. Mr Harper said he would be visiting Mr Taylor on Monday, but would not comment on his future intentions. Asked if one of the options available to Mr Taylor was to apply for a writ of habeas corpus, Mr Harper said: "That is one ground and anyone can find that out by reading it in a law book." In Eastbourne yesterday, there was no reply to calls at Mr Taylor's rented house on Wrestwood Avenue. The curtains at the two-storey detached home, which he shared with his second wife, Shirley, were drawn all day.
The Taylors' lease on the house is due to expire at the end of October, but the owner of the premises, Mr David Daniel, told The Irish Times that he had not discussed extending the lease with the couple. According to one of the Taylor's neighbours, the couple had been living at the house while they waited for a new home to be built for them nearby. However, Mr Daniel said he did not know the Taylors' future plans. "These issues are usually discussed at the end of a tenancy agreement, about six weeks or a month before the end of the lease and that time hadn't quite come up yet."
He had only become aware of Mr Taylor's arrest yesterday morning and had spoken to Mrs Taylor about her husband's arrest. "She's a human being and if you put yourself in the same circumstances how would you feel? She's bearing up very well indeed. Some of their friends have been calling at the house to offer support."
The Taylors were "perfect tenants", Mr Daniel said. "For two years they have been a tenant and they have never been any trouble. I am as shocked as anybody to hear the news about his arrest. They were the sort of tenants who never defaulted on any payments. They were very nice, charming people. I don't know much about them because I keep my business on a professional footing."
