Alleged IRA bomber John Downey back in NI after he is extradited
ALLEGED IRA bomber John Downey, who is facing prosecution for the murder of two Ulster Defence Regiment soldiers in 1972, was extradited to the UK yesterday after handing himself into police in the Republic.
The PSNI confirmed last night that 67-year-old Downey was now in custody in Northern Ireland.
He is expected to appear at Omagh magistrates’ Court this morning.
The PSNI’s Detective Inspector John Caldwell said: “The PSNI has been liaising closely with An Garda Siochana, and today’s arrest demonstrates the benefits of joint working between police forces and other national partner agencies.”
Downey, whose trial for the IRA’s Hyde Park bombing collapsed in controversy five years ago, is wanted by prosecutors in Northern Ireland in connection with the murders of two Ulster Defence Regiment soldiers.
Authorities in Northern Ireland issued a European Arrest Warrant for Downey after determining they had sufficient evidence to charge him with the 1972 murders of Lance Corporal Alfred Johnston (32), and Private James Eames (33).
Lance Corporal Johnston was a father of four, and Pte Eames a father of three.
The two UDR soldiers died in a car bomb attack in Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh, in August 1972.
The High Court in Dublin ordered Mr Downey’s extradition in March, and the Court of Appeal in Dublin upheld that decision in July this year.
In 2013, Downey was charged with murdering four Royal Household Cavalrymen in a bomb in London’s Hyde Park in 1982.
Seven horses were also killed by the Hyde Park explosion.
Downey was put on trial at the Old Bailey in 2014 — but the case dramatically collapsed after it was revealed he had received a written assurance from former prime minister Tony Blair’s Labour government that he was not actively wanted by the authorities.