Bid to extradite ex-INLA leader
THE British government will this morning apply for the extradition of a leading dissident republican being held in the Republic for questioning about the murder of a British army recruiting sergeant 17 years ago.
Declan Duffy (36) is due to be sentenced later this month at Dublin Special Criminal Court in the Republic on charges of belonging to an illegal organisation, namely the INLA.
However, it is understood that British government lawyers will this morning apply to the High Court in Dublin for the Co Armagh man to be extradited to England under a European Arrest Warrant (EAW) to be questioned about the 1992 murder of British army recruiting sergeant Michael Newman.
The 33-year-old had just lowered a flag outside the army recruiting office where he worked in Derby and was walking to his car when he was shot in the head.
Within days British police named Duffy and two other INLA men as being wanted in connection with the murder.
While the three were arrested in the Republic the following year, Duffy’s co-accused Anthony Gorman and Joseph Magee both successfully challenged attempts to have them extradited back to Britain to be questioned about the soldier’s murder.
Duffy and Gorman, who have both served jail terms in the Republic, have never been tried for their alleged involvement in the murder as they have refused to go to Britain for questioning.
However, in 2004 Magee was arrested when he secretly crossed the border into Northern Ireland to attend a funeral in his native Co Armagh.
He later pleaded guilty to the soldier’s murder and was ordered to serve a minimum of 25 years behind bars.
However Magee walked free from prison in April 2006 under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement’s early release scheme.
Earlier this month Gorman was arrested in Co Cavan and questioned by gardai about the 1992 murder.
British government lawyers are believed to be seeking Gorman’s extradition alongside Duffy.
However, it was last night unclear whether Duffy, above, would be entitled to benefit from the Good Friday Agreement release scheme, if convicted of the killing.
In March this year it was claimed that Duffy had been dismissed as leader of its organisation in Dublin.
Earlier this week he publicly said he had ended his association with the INLA and wanted to serve his time a non-paramilitary prisoner.
However, the government is also understood to be under severe pressure to despecify the INLA’s ceasefire status following its involvement in the separate murders of three men in Derry in recent years.
If the government does decide to refuse to recognise the INLA’s ceasefire status and Duffy and Gorman are convicted of the soldier’s murder they could face 25 years in prison.
