The Supreme Court has ordered the extradition of a Co Louth man to Spain where he is wanted for the alleged murder of his wife who died after falling from a hotel balcony.
The five-judge court, presided over by the Chief Justice, Mr Justice John Murray, yesterday unanimously upheld a High Court order of May 27th last directing that Michael Dermot McArdle (36), Brookfield, Heynestown, Dundalk, be extradited to Spain.
Mr McArdle is wanted for the alleged murder of his wife, Kelly Anne (28), who died following a fall from a hotel balcony in Marbella on February 12th, 2000.
Mr McArdle had been staying with his wife and two children at the five-star Melia Don Pepe hotel in Marbella on the Costa del Sol. Ms McArdle died after falling 40 feet from the balcony of the fourth-floor room where the family were staying.
The incident happened hours after the family arrived at the hotel. Ms McArdle was on her first holiday with her husband after the birth of their second child.
An earlier court hearing had been told that the Spanish police will claim that Mr McArdle killed his wife to claim up to €500,000 in insurance policies and from the sale of two houses.
The extradition order was the first of its kind to be made in the State under the European Arrest Warrant Act 2003, which came into effect in 2004.
Kelly Anne Corcoran's family held each other and wept after the court ruling. As Mr McArdle was taken to the Bridewell Garda station before his transfer to prison pending extradition, the Corcoran family made a brief statement.
"The family of Kelly Anne are devastated by her death and the situation that has developed since," her brother-in-law, Peter Moran, said. "Kelly Anne's husband has not explained the circumstances surrounding her death. Perhaps her family can now find the truth."
Flanked by Kelly Anne's sister, Caroline, he said it had been "a slow and painful process" in which there were no winners.
The European arrest warrant was issued by a judge in Spain and was endorsed by a High Court order on November 16th, 2004. Mr McArdle was arrested by gardaí at Ballyjamesduff in Co Cavan on November 22nd, 2004.
He was initially arrested on October 21st, 2001, on foot of a provisional warrant under the 1965 Extradition Act but was subsequently released after the extradition request was withdrawn.
The Chief Justice yesterday made a technical amendment to the High Court order and said it was in the Supreme Court's inherent jurisdiction to correct a manifest error in a High Court order. The Supreme Court amended the High Court order by substituting section 16 (1) for section 16 (2) of the European Arrest Warrant Act 2003.
The court in its ruling also said that president of the High Court Mr Justice Joseph Finnegan was entitled to conclude that the purpose of the European arrest warrant was for the prosecution and trial of Mr McArdle.
Referring to the initial extradition request and the fact that it was subsequently dropped, an issue which Mr McArdle's lawyers had raised in their appeal against extradition, Mr Justice Murray said there was certainly some confusion as to why the request pursuant to the 1965 Act was initially withdrawn.
The High Court had found that the reason a request for extradition was not subsequently pursued was that Ireland did not extradite its own citizens to Spain under the 1965 Act in the absence of any reciprocal extradition arrangements from Spain to Ireland of Spanish citizens.
The later extradition request was made after the entering into force of the 2003 Act on January 1st, 2004.
In those circumstances, Mr Justice Murray said, delay could not be regarded as a basis for interfering with the High Court extradition order.