My hell on earth: Briton facing extradition to Portugal over attack he was cleared of 17 years ago

A Briton yesterday spoke of his ‘hell on earth’ as he faces extradition to Portugal and retrial for an alleged attack he was cleared of 17 years ago.

In his first interview, Graham Mitchell said his life had been ‘turned upside down’ since he was rearrested under the controversial European Arrest Warrant earlier this month.

The 49-year-old photographer, from Canterbury, is hoping the Portuguese authorities – who accuse him of murder, despite the victim still being alive – have made an ‘administrative blunder’.

But the man he was accused of assaulting, German tourist Andre Jorling, is insisting Mr Mitchell is guilty and told the Daily Mail that he should be returned to Portugal to face a retrial.

Mr Mitchell and his friend, Warren Tozer, were in the Algarve in May 1994 when they were arrested by police after a serious assault on Mr Jorling, then 26, who was paralysed after being thrown off a 12ft-high sea wall. The two men spent 11 months in a Portuguese prison awaiting trial.

In March 1995, Mr Mitchell and Mr Tozer were cleared as police were said to have ignored a description the paralysed tourist had given of his assailants which bore little resemblance to the friends.

The former Scots Guardsman, who lives with his wife Laura and two children, has rebuilt his life and tried to forget the ‘hellish’ jail.

Mr Mitchell was held in Wandsworth Prison, in south London, before being released on bail.

Yesterday, Mr Mitchell said: ‘Our life’s been turned upside down and inside out. Nothing’s the same. Every waking moment is a constant worry. It’s hell on earth.’

Under the current system, British courts have few powers to test any evidence underpinning a request for extradition. It has led to a string of controversial cases, with dozens of MPs demanding the European Arrest Warrant should be reformed or scrapped.

However, Mr Jorling’s lawyer, Raymund Reineke, last night said the possible extradition was ‘the good news’ his client had been waiting for. At his office in Bremen, Germany, he added: ‘It was a totally unacceptable crime. We have been trying for this for years.’

Mr Mitchell is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court next Wednesday.

Original report here




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