Another Country Refusing to Extradite American Domestic Violence Victims

Irish judge refuses to extradite American woman and her children to the U.S.
By DONAL THORNTON 02/12/10

A High Court judge refused to extradite a woman and her family to the U.S.

The Irish High Court has refused to allow an American woman and her mother to be extradited to the US.

The woman breached an access order by taking her children out of their home state to Ireland. The woman and her mother are of Irish descent, and the Irish court has refused to reveal their identities. Judge Michael Peart refused the U.S.'s request to extradite the women and stated that the alleged offences had no grounding under Irish law. The women have refused to return to America, and the daughter said that her ex husband is extremely violent and she was concerned about the safety of her family. The woman was allegedly beaten frequently by her husband, and one of her daughters was also allegedly abused by her father.

In 2005, a U.S. court granted the father weekend access to his two children. On April 3 that year, the children failed to appear at an agreed pick up point. It was later discovered that the children had relocated to Ireland with their mother and grandmother. Shortly thereafter, the mother and grandmother were charged with "intentionally and knowingly retaining" her two children on April 3,2005. However, there were no facts to prove that the mother knowingly or intentionally retained the children on the mentioned date. If the mother and grandmother were found guilty of the crime in the U.S., they would serve a jail term.

To extradite the women, Judge Peart had to be satisfied that the offence in question would amount to a criminal offense in Ireland.

The mother of the children told the court that she was frequently abused by her ex husband during their marriage. She also told the court that he tried to run her down in his truck, and claimed that his new wife had stabbed her while her ex-husband looked on.

The women and her two children are now permanently living in Ireland.