Rapist fights to stay in UK

Mar 2 2008 by Staff Reporter, Wales On Sunday

CONVICTED rapist fighting extradition to France is living in Wales after being granted bail.

Michael Jervis, 46, is due back at London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, when he will learn if he is to be extradited.

The 46-year-old had been released from custody to live on the Pennsylvania estate, Llanedeyrn, Cardiff, before the outcome of his extradition hearing.

Jervis was convicted in France of a sex attack on a former partner and sent to a secure mental unit. But he returned to the UK.

When he was eventually picked up by police, he was taken to court for the first phase of the process which could see him sent back across the English Channel and into French custody.

But instead of remanding him to prison, a district judge at Westminster Magistrates’ Court agreed Jervis should be released on bail.

Jervis refused to comment when a Wales on Sunday reporter called at his elderly parents’ Cardiff home on Friday afternoon.

After his grey-haired mother got him out of bed, Jervis, previously of Chapelwood, Llanedeyrn, would only say: “I’m not interested, go away.”

Of the 189 extradition cases heard at Westminster Magistrates’ Court – which deals with all UK extradition cases – 82 were let out on bail.

An extradition expert, who asked not to be named, said: “Surprisingly, it is common for bail to be granted.

“Alleged criminals, some already convicted in their absence, are told they are to be extradited and then they are released.”

A Crown Prosecution Service spokeswoman confirmed Jervis had been convicted of rape.

She said: “He was arrested in the UK on a European arrest warrant and then bail was granted. He will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on March 6.”

A court spokeswoman said the hearing was for Jervis to learn the conclusion of the extradition proceedings.

The Home Office receives 1,000 extradition requests every year which are processed by its officials or the Serious Organised Crime Agency. Officers from the Metropolitan Police extradition unit trawl the British Isles hunting people wanted by foreign governments.

The Ministry of Justice said whether to grant bail was a matter for individual judges.

ben.glaze@mediawales.co.uk