Investment broker Mr Tony Taylor is expected to appeal against the order of a magistrate that he be extradited to Ireland on 15 warrants in connection with financial losses in the Republic totalling more than £600,000 (€762,000). A magistrate in Brighton yesterday granted the extradition request and remanded Mr Taylor (52) in custody for 15 days. He will be returned to Ireland at that time unless he mounts an appeal.
During a 10 minute hearing at Brighton Magistrates' Court, Mr Taylor spoke only to confirm his name and address in Eastbourne, Sussex where he has been living for two years. He disappeared in 1996 from Dublin and his investment company, Taylor Asset Management. His wife, Shirley, was not in court yesterday.
Mr Mark Smith, for the Crown Prosecution Service, told the court that the 15 extradition warrants had been backed by the District Court in Dublin and then by magistrates in Eastbourne on Wednesday. They consist of eight warrants relating to alleged fraudulent conversion; two breaches of the Forgery Act; two breaches of the Companies Act; one breach of the Investment Intermediaries Act (which Mr Taylor helped draft) and two charges of obtaining money by false pretences.
He has been held at Crawley police station in Sussex since his arrest on Wednesday.
The court was told that Mr Taylor was a managing director of a financial investment company and that he "went missing" from Ireland about three years ago. Several alleged offences were uncovered and these allegations gave rise to the 15 warrants, which related to an amount of money totalling more than £600,000.
Mr Smith told the magistrate, Mr James Shrimpton, that he had two options to consider. He could effect the extradition and dispatch Mr Taylor to Ireland or he could remand him in custody for 15 days.
But Mr Taylor's barrister, Mr John Mannion, said his client "does not consent to extradition and I understand that he has 15 days to do something about it".
Mr Smith signalled his concern that, due to the "nature and seriousness of the matters", Mr Taylor would not surrender himself to the court if he was granted bail. However, a bail application was not made.
Mr Shrimpton granted the extradition and ordered Mr Taylor to be produced at a point of departure from Britain under the control of the Garda. Mr Taylor was remanded in custody for 15 days, according to procedure, allowing him to decide whether he will contest the warrants in a higher court. The court was also told that Mr Taylor is seeking legal aid.
After the hearing, Det Supt Willie McGee, of the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation, said they had become aware of Mr Taylor's presence in Eastbourne more than a week ago with the assistance of the National Crime Squad in Britain. It was understood that he had been operating a small investment company, using the Internet, from his house in Eastbourne. Det Supt McGee said Mr Taylor had been using the name Andrew Taylor. Asked if Mr Taylor was surprised when gardai arrived at his house with Sussex police officers on Wednesday to execute the extradition warrants, Det Supt McGee replied: "I'd say he was, yes."
