Court to rule on McDermott’s extradition on April 12

An Accra High Court will on April 12 gives its ruling on the extradition case of David McDermott, a British fugitive, to the United Kingdom.

The Court presided over by Mrs Justice Merley Wood fixed the date after Defence Attorney and the State had addressed it.

Mr Richard Gyambiby, a State Attorney contended that McDermott has been mentioned in a narcotic case in the UK and drug related offences are also crimes in Ghana.

He said the State was not saying that he had committed offence in Ghana but rather the offence took place in the UK hence the need to send him there to stand trial.

Mr Gyambiby posits that UK and Ghana had a treaty which supported the extradition.

Mr Victor Kojogah Adawudu, Defence Counsel, said narcotic was not an extradition crime.

Mr Adawudu said with the interpretation of sections of the law, there was no mention of narcotics being an extradition crime as the prosecution wanted the Court to believe.

He said a look at the charges preferred against the accused, showed that he could be tried here and there was no need to extradite him.

On his client’s arrest, Defence Counsel noted that prosecution should have followed some laws and procedures before McDermott’s arrest.

He said McDermott was arrested without any bench warrant issued by a Magistrate Court.

A look at the inventory, Counsel contended, was that no drugs were found among the items that the Police seized from the accused.

Earlier Defence Counsel had challenged Detective Sergeant Marcus Yawlui, the case investigator, that the inventory tendered in court was the original.

McDermott, 42, is wanted for his role in a conspiracy to import £71 million worth of cocaine into the United Kingdom in 2013.

Currently McDermott is being held over conspiracy to supply cocaine.

He was apprehended in Ghana on March 11, this year, based on an extradition request issued by the British High Commission to the Foreign Affairs Ministry of Ghana.

At the earlier appearance in a circuit court, McDermott’s charge of engaging in prohibited business relating to narcotic drugs was withdrawn.

On May 16, 2013, McDermott and four others were said to have held a meeting at KFC in Liverpool UK and discussed the importation of the 400kg of cocaine that was intercepted in beef imported from Argentina.

Source: GNA