A former INLA man is to be extradited to Northern Ireland to continue a life sentence for the 1992 murder of a British army sergeant.
Declan Duffy (44), who was convicted in 2010 of the killing of Michael Newman in Derby in England, was released on licence under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement in March 2013.
He was arrested by gardaí in December 2015 and last year jailed by the Republic's Special Criminal Court for six years for falsely imprisoning Martin Byrne in Rathcoole, Co Dublin in June that year.
Duffy, originally from Armagh but with an address at Hannover Street West in Dublin, was then recalled to prison in Northern Ireland in June 2016 after his license was revoked. A European Arrest Warrant was issued.
His lawyers opposed his surrender on grounds that his return to prison in the north amounted to “double punishment”.
Barrister Anthony Hanrahan submitted to Dublin's High Court that his client had already served "what was deemed by the Sentence Review Commissioner to be an appropriate sentence".
He said it was an “unusual case”, as the offending behaviour was carried out in a separate jurisdiction in which Duffy would be serving his six-year sentence in full, before having to return to Northern Ireland to a life sentence.
Mr Hanrahan also said Brexit may impact on his client's case.
However, Ms Justice Donnelly said a person released on license was still subject to the sentence and the conditions of the license.
She said he wasn’t being “punished again” but was being required to serve his life sentence arising out of breaches of his license, and no evidence had been provided regarding Brexit impacting his case.
The judge postponed the extradition until Duffy completes his six-year sentence in 2022.
