Scot loses fight against extradition to US

● European Court of Human Rights puts end to long-running legal battle

A Scot wanted for murder in the US has lost his long-running legal battle against extradition.

Phillip Harkins, 38, has been fighting against his transfer to the US to face the charge since 2003 in what has been described as Britain’s longestrunning extradition case.

The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg rejected his final appeal yesterday.

Harkins had argued his extradition would violate articles three and six of the European Convention of Human Rights, relating to inhuman or degrading treatment and the right to a fair trial.

His lawyers said that if con- victed in Florida he would face a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

The court declared both complaints inadmissible and said its decision was final. It also ruled an interim measure in place to stay Harkins’ extradition should be lifted.

Under the usual procedures, the UK is now expected to inform the United States that the extradition can go ahead, so that its authorities can make arrangements to transfer Mr Harkins to American custody.

Harkins, originally from Greenock, Inverclyde, was indicted for murder after Joshua Hayes was killed by a gunshot wound to the head during a robbery in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1999.

He denied any involvement and has contested his extradition since it was requested by US authorities in March 2003.

Harkins, who had been released on bail, returned to Scotland in 2002 but was jailed the following year for five years at the High Court in Edinburgh for killing 62-yearold Jean O’neill in a road crash in Greenock.

While in custody, Harkins was transferred to Wandsworth Prison in London, while proceedings got under way to extradite him to the US. After losing a number of attempts to block his extradition, he took his case to the European Court of Human Rights, where an initial appeal failed in 2012.

He successfully petitioned for a final hearing but the court ruled the complaints should be declared inadmissible as they were “substantially the same” as those considered in 2012.

Responding to the judgment, Mr Hayes’s mother Patricia Gallagher said: “I really don’t understand how he was ever allowed to file that many appeals.

“That’s way too many and he said he’s a victim, and he’s not.”

She said her son’s death had been “real rough” on her grandchildren, who had been brought up without a father.

“My Josh has two grandchildren that will never get to know him,” she said.

“We keep Josh very much alive here. He’ll always be carried in my heart and my head.” 0 Phillip Harkins’ appeal was rejected in Strasbourg