Romanian rapist extradition attempt fails

A Romanian rapist wanted in his home country will not be extradited after a judge found it would be "oppressive" to send him back to serve another sentence.

The man, who has lived in Portsmouth, Hampshire, was jailed for rape in 2013, but said he was raped and tortured in a Romanian prison.

He failed to declared his rape conviction to authorities when he arrived in the UK in 2018 to join his partner and he remains the subject of a deportation order.

But a High Court judge said the man, who experts found has post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), should not be sent back to serve a two-year prison term for driving without a licence.

Mr Justice Chamberlain said experts' evidence that the man, referred to as ZA, was living with PTSD was "meticulously evidenced" and that extradition could ultimately result in him taking his life.

ZA said he was burned with hot metal, stabbed with other metal taken from beds, bitten and forced to wash socks and underwear in the Romanian prison.

The Romanian state had "wholly failed" to protect him during his nine-month stay there, the judge added.

ZA was later transferred to other prisons, where he served the rest of his sentence.

He applied for settled status in the UK in 2019 but a warrant for driving without a licence was served by Romanian authorities in 2021.

They claim he collided with a roadside barrier following his release from prison.

He appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court to respond to the Romanian warrant in October 2021 and was given conditional bail. He has been the subject of a night-time curfew since then.

Mr Justice Chamberlain said given the man's "long-standing" PTSD and the driving offence being at "the lower end of the scale of seriousness", it would be inappropriate to extradite him to Romania.

"The deportation order may or may not be maintained," he added.

"If it is, the appellant may have to leave the UK or face compulsory removal. That, however, is not the same as extradition to Romania in custody."

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