ORIGINALLY FROM the East End of London, Wharrie (48) first fell foul of the law when he was just 19 when he was convicted of theft. He accumulated other convictions for burglary, criminal damage and drugs before he was convicted in 1989 of murder.
Wharrie was a member of a three-man armed gang who held up a Securicor van at Barclay's Bank in Hemel Hempstead, on April 14th, 1988. They were confronted by an off- duty policeman, Frank Mason.
PC Mason (27) tackled one of the armed raiders but was shot in the back by the second armed man. Although Wharrie denied being the gunman, he and co-accused Charles McGhee, and getaway driver Irish-born James Hurley, were all convicted of murder.
Wharrie was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1989 and served 17 years before being released on licence in April 2005. He failed to keep appointments with the probation service and disappeared from Britain in January 2006.
Married with children, Wharrie found himself in the High Court in Dublin last year when the British authorities initiated extradition proceedings in relation to his breach of the terms of his release under licence for PC Mason's murder.