Extradition to Greece for father involved in crash 13 years ago rejected

A father from Mold who was convicted by a Greek court for his part in a car accident on holiday 13 years ago has been told by a UK judge he will not be extradited to Greece.

Paul Wright was handed a European arrest warrant in March at his home in Flintshire in relation to a collision between a car and a parked scooter in Malia, Crete, in 2003.

The 34-year-old, who was 21 at the time, said he had been a passenger in a car driven by a friend who had offered to move it for a bar worker they had come to know during their break.

He was summonsed to attend trial on October 2 2006 in Greece but had by then moved from the Birmingham address he had given to police, so he failed to receive the notice.

In the trial in his absence he was sentenced to 15 months in prison or a fine for taking a motor vehicle without consent and causing criminal damage to the value of around 3,000 euros.

District Judge Mike Snow discharged Mr Wright from Westminster Magistrates' Court saying he was not satisfied the father-of-two had deliberately absented himself from proceedings.

In his judgment he also criticised the "appalling" delay between the minor crash and officers turning up at his door in North Wales more than a decade later.

The judge said: "There has been no explanation for the delay of three years between the offending and his conviction, the further delay of three years before the EAW was issued or the further delay of six years before it was sent to the UK authorities.

"The delay in this case is appalling."

The prosecution has seven days in which to appeal against his decision, he said.

Mr Wright's solicitor Sean Caulfield, of Hodge Jones & Allen, warned he may still face extradition if he visits other countries which have treaties with Greece.

Part of his bail conditions require Mr Wright to surrender his passport and not to travel outside the UK.