THE application to extradite Mr Anthony Duncan (26), from Finglas in Dublin, collapsed because there was a "fundamental flaw" in the documentation presented to Dublin District Court on Saturday, April 13th.
The lawyer representing the State, Ms Claire Loftus, told Judge Timothy Crowley that following an examination of the documents she had new instructions from the Attorney General, Mr Dermot Gleeson SC. It was now clear there was a "fundamental flaw in the proceedings before the court", she said.
For the defence, Mr Michael Hanahoe said that in the circumstances the proper order was a discharge. He added: "I think it should be said that the document which arrived from England was the document that contained the flaw. I think that should be said."
Judge Crowley said: "It is not the first time, in my own experience, that documents arriving from England were flawed, and I think it is an imposition on the Irish courts that it should happen and I strongly object to it. I take very great exception to the time of this court being taken up by flawed documentation.
The Sunday Tribune reported the following day that British sources blamed errors in Dublin for the failure. It said Government sources said in private that the correct presentation of documents was the responsibility of the British in this case.
The Sunday Independent said Government sources rejected any suggestion that the Attorney General was to blame. On the Monday The Irish Times reported that the Government and Garda authorities had insisted the British authorities were responsible for the collapse of the extradition attempt. British government sources claimed the error occurred in Dublin.
Sources at the British Home Office declined to comment, but one Conservative Party source said the British police had handed "quite accurate" documents to the Irish authorities, but photocopies were presented to the judge.
Senior sources in Dublin rejected the claims, however, saying the British had responsibility for producing the correct papers and should have been aware that photocopies would not suffice.
A Government spokesman said the matter had nothing to do with the Office of the Attorney General, which received copies of the extradition documentation in advance of the hearing.
The Irish Times reported on the Tuesday that Garda sources blamed the failure of the extradition attempt on mistakes in documentation supplied by the British.
The Taoiseach Mr Bruton told the Dail on April 24th that the difficulties were not the fault of the Office of the Attorney General.
The PD leader, Ms Mary Harney, said she accepted that, but there was a system in place in the office which allowed the AG to personally check and monitor all extradition applications. . She asked if there was any monitoring done on behalf of the AG in that case.
Last Wednesday week, the Dail was told that the investigation into the collapse was "continuing". The Minister for Justice, Mrs Owen, said she was informed by the Garda authorities that the warrant produced in court was not the original one and that was the reason for the collapse.
A review of the steps taken so far failed to explain why the warrant was not available to the court. "I am not satisfied with the delay in establishing the full facts and I have requested the Garda authorities to conclude their inquiries within a matter of days", Mrs Owen said.