A man serving a life sentence for the murder of a young woman in a Limerick hotel has asked the High Court to overturn the Minister for Justice's "unreasonable" refusal to permit his transfer to a Portuguese prison.
If transferred, the Portuguese courts had decided that Paulo Nascimento would serve a sentence ranging from a minimum 16 years and eight months to a maximum of 25 years, his counsel Bill Shipsey SC said.
Given that a "life" sentence in Ireland generally ranged from 12 to 15 years, as evidenced from common knowledge and research undertaken by the Irish Human Rights Commission, the Minister's refusal to sanction the transfer was unreasonable, arbitrary, capricious and in breach of the Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights, Mr Shipsey argued.
Mr Shipsey was opening judicial review proceedings by Nascimento challenging the Minister's refusal in September 2006 of his transfer application. The hearing before Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne is expected to last four days. The parents of Nascimento's victim, Gráinne Dillon, attended court yesterday with other relatives.
Nascimento (31), a former member of the Portuguese army, was given the mandatory life sentence in 2003 after he pleaded guilty to the murder of Ms Dillon (24), Glounthaune, Cork, at Jurys Inn in Limerick on January 5th, 2002. Nascimento shot Ms Dillon, a trainee manager, after stealing €3,000 from the hotel.
Mr Shipsey yesterday said the Minister had based his refusal of transfer on the grounds that the fixed 25-year sentence proposed by the Portuguese authorities as an alternative to the life sentence imposed here was "not appropriate having regard to the gravity of this crime".
Mr Shipsey said Portuguese law provided that the maximum sentence for this offence was 25 years but, on remission, a person could serve a minimum two thirds of that term - some 16 years and eight months - and could also qualify for automatic release after 21 years.
