The High Court has adjourned until October 17th an application for the extradition of a fugitive UK sex offender who has been living in Co Kildare for the past seven years.
Mr Justice Michael Peart was told yesterday that John Murrell (39), with an address in Athy, was arrested last Friday and remanded in custody to Cloverhill Prison. The court heard he was opposing the extradition application.
Murrell went missing after failing to register with the UK authorities after his early release from prison in September 2000. He was traced to Athy last Friday by gardaí acting on foot of a European arrest warrant.
It is understood the authorities were tipped off by local people who recognised Murrell from the BBC's Crimewatch programme and on websites.
Murrell was last heard of in Worcestershire in 2000. West Mercia police had been leading the search. He failed to report to the probation hostel he was assigned to on his release from prison where he served half his sentence for three counts of indecent assault and one count of indecency with a nine-year-old.