The Supreme Court has reserved judgment on an appeal by a man fighting a fresh bid to extradite him over a road incident in Hungary in which two children died.
The five-judge court said it would rule later on the appeal by Ciaran Tobin (47) against a decision to extradite him to complete a sentence imposed over the incident near Budapest on April 9th, 2000, when the car he was driving mounted a footpath and struck the two children, one of whom was in a pram.
Extradition proceedings were first brought against Mr Tobin, Offington Drive, Sutton, Dublin, in 2007 but were dismissed by the High Court and later, on appeal, by the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court refused extradition aftert finding a requirement of the European Arrest Warrant (EAW) Act 2003, under which his extradition was sought, had not been met as he had not “fled” Hungary after the incident but had left, returned and left again without impediment.
In 2010, the Government amended that Act to remove this requirement. Two months later, the Hungarian authorities issued a new warrant for Mr Tobin.
Mr Tobin lost his High Court challenge to this second attempt to extradite him and appealed that decision to the Supreme Court.
Mr Tobin was granted bail last last February pending the Supreme Court appeal but, after taking leave of absence from his job, he surrendered his bail last November and has been in custody since.
His lawyers told the court earlier this month he wanted to serve the sentence imposed on him in Ireland and feared for his safety if sent back to Hungary because the case had received some publicity there.
Brian Murray SC, for Mr Tobin, said his client’s request to serve the sentence here had been turned down by the Minister for Justice. Mr Tobin “will do anything to avoid returning [to Hungary]”, counsel said.
Mr Tobin has claimed there was an abuse of process by the State in changing the law when the first attempt at his extradition failed.
Maurice Collins SC, for the Minister for Justice, said the change was not targeted at Mr Tobin but introduced to ensure Ireland complied with its obligations under an EU directive.
Counsel also argued it could not be the case that the obligation to surrender someone for extradition to another State was trumped by a person saying they want to serve their sentence here.
In the European Arrest Warrant seeking Mr Tobin’s extradition, it is claimed, as a result of the incident, Marton Zoltai (5) and Petra Zoltai (2) were killed. Marton had been standing on the footpath while Petra was in a pram.
It is claimed Mr Tobin’s wife and two Irish friends were also in the car at the time. The following day, all four attended a police station and made a statement with the assistance of a Hungarian lawyer.