The High Court has refused to order the extradition to Britain of a west of Ireland priest on charges of indecently assaulting young altar boys in the late 1960s.
The President of the High Court, Mr Justice Joseph Finnegan, yesterday said the surrender of the priest should not be ordered. Mr Justice Finnegan refused the extradition on grounds of excessive delay of some 30 years between the alleged offences and the making of the first complaint.
He also found inordinate and inexcusable the delay on the part of the British authorities - over two years - between taking the last complainant statement and applying for a European Arrest Warrant.
The warrant related to seven offences of allegedly indecently assaulting three young boys aged between nine and 13 on different dates between December 1967 and December 1972 in England.
The complainants had come forward in the last three to four years to give witness statements.
In a reserved judgment yesterday, Mr Justice Finnegan said the warrant was issued in August of last year and the man was arrested a few weeks later.
The judge said he was satisfied there was no delay by authorities here.
However, a year after receiving the last witness statement, the judge said the crown prosecution service in London had received papers concerning the proposed extradition.
At the time, the crown prosecution service wanted to wait for an Irish Supreme Court judgment in another extradition case, which was delivered in March last year.
Taking all the circumstances into account, and the explanations furnished for the delay, this was excessive delay which has not been justified nor excused, he ruled.