A judge today gave the go-ahead for the British teacher who ran away to France with a 15-year-old girl to be extradited back to Britain.
Jeremy Forrest, 30, was arrested on Friday in Bordeaux after eight days on the run with Megan Stammers. The pair dodged police, staying in budget hotels as they planned a new life together.
Forrest, who is married, has spent the past six nights in one of the toughest remand centres in south-west France, and asked to be extradited back to the UK where he will face a charge of child abduction.
In France, where he was first accused of the crime, he would face a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a fine equivalent to £60,000 if found guilty.
Today judge Eric Grafmuller, sitting at the Bordeaux appeal court, said “everything is regular” with the European arrest warrant issued for Forrest. This means that Forrest could technically return today, although no exact time has been set, and diplomatic formalities could take three days.
“It could be today, it could be tomorrow, it could be over the next few days,” said Forrest’s French lawyer, Daniel Lalanne. Earlier in the week Mr Lalanne said Megan had not been subjected “to violence or manipulation” and that Forrest only wanted “to be reunited with Megan”.
Forrest was not present in court today, but on Tuesday his British lawyer Phil Smith said: “Now that he has agreed to be extradited to the UK, we look forward to the full story emerging. He is very appreciative of the support of his family.”
The teacher fled the UK with Megan, from Eastbourne, on September 20. They were captured on CCTV on a Dover-to-Calais ferry. Megan returned to Britain on Saturday.
