Human rights judges hear fan case

Football fan Garry Mann, 46, of Faversham in Kent, is due to have his case against extradition heard in the European Court of Human Rights
12 April 2012

An England football fan facing extradition to Portugal to serve a jail term is due to have his case heard the European Court of Human Rights.

Garry Mann, from Faversham, Kent, was given a two-year prison sentence for his alleged role in football-related violence in the Algarve resort of Albufeira during Euro 2004.

The former firefighter was deported from Portugal and did not serve his jail term in the UK, and the Portuguese authorities have been trying to extradite him under a fast-track European Arrest Warrant.

Mr Mann - whose lawyers have claimed he did not have a fair trial in Portugal - last month lost the latest stage of his fight to avoid extradition when the Appeal Court ruled the High Court had no power to intervene.

But the justices said they hoped for "some measure of justice" for Mr Mann, giving his legal team time to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

A panel of ECHR judges are expected to decide whether the extradition should go ahead.

Jago Russell from human rights campaigner Fair Trials International - which is supporting Mr Mann - said: "The court is considering whether to use an exceptional power to stop the extradition. It is a pretty exceptional power, but I think if ever there was a case where they should use it, it is this. I am really hopeful they do."

Last month Lord Justice Moses, sitting with Mr Justice Hickinbottom, said Mr Mann's apparent injustice did not stem from what was contended to have been an unfair and unlawful hearing.

He had instead been deprived of proper legal assistance "by two sets of lawyers in two separate jurisdictions on two distinct occasions".

Lord Justice Moses said the High Court was powerless to act because it had no jurisdiction. But he expressed the hope that either the European Court of Human Rights would intervene or the diplomatic authorities in the UK or Portugal "can strive to achieve some measure of justice for Mr Mann, a justice of which he as been so signally deprived by those on whom he had previously relied".

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in