High Court orders surrender of convicted murderer to Northern Ireland

The High Court has ordered the surrender of a convicted murderer who is alleged to have gone on the run from prison in Northern Ireland twice in three years.

A search was launched for James Meehan (56) after he failed to return to Magilligan prison in Derry while being on day release in December 2024. He was arrested by gardai in August on foot of extradition warrants issued under the Trade and Co-operation Agreement.

At the High Court on Monday, Mr Justice Paul McDermott said there was “ultimately no basis on which to refuse surrender” and that he was obliged to order Meehan's extradition to the requested jurisdiction.

Meehan will remain on bail, with arrangements to be made with gardai in regard to his surrender.

Meehan, who previously had addresses in Derry City and Headfort Grove, Kells, Co Meath, was sentenced in 2009 to life imprisonment – with a minimum of 14 years to be served - for the murder of Derry man Jim McFadden in May 2007.

The 42-year-old victim was repeatedly punched in the chest and died from a ruptured heart in an attack that took place after the wedding reception of Mr McFadden’s sister-in-law in Redcastle, County Donegal.

The High Court previously heard that Meehan was born in Co Louth and raised in neighbouring Co Meath.

In addition to the warrant for Meehan to return to the North to serve his murder sentence, a second warrant was issued for him to be prosecuted in Northern Ireland for being unlawfully at large. A conviction under the Northern Irish legislation could carry a prison sentence of up to two years.

Defence counsel for Meehan, Brian Storan BL, previously asked the judge to delay surrendering his client back to the North so that authorities could consider transferring his sentence to the Republic.

He said that Meehan had applied to have his life sentence transferred from the North to the South in 2017.

Mr Storan said that Meehan got confirmation recently that the Northern Ireland authorities had withdrawn his transfer application back in 2022.

Counsel for the Minister for Justice, Leanora Frawley BL, told the court last month that Meehan was granted temporary unaccompanied leave from prison to meet family members on December 9 2024, but he never returned.

Ms Frawley said that this was not Meehan’s “first rodeo” when it comes to extradition matters and that a similar case concerning Meehan was before the courts around a year ago.  

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Mr Justice McDermott said that someone moving “off their own bat” south of the border and taking it on themselves to say “here I am, I want to transfer” is not the way the prison transfer process is envisaged to work.

Meehan was previously extradited to Northern Ireland less than two years ago, after he was described by the Prison Service there as being “unlawfully at large”.

He had argued that the punitive part of his sentence had been served and that he had actually been released from prison “on licence” when he came to live here in 2022.

However, the State argued that Meehan was sought in the North as he had instead been “unlawfully at large” from temporary release, which contained a condition that he not leave Northern Ireland.

In December 2023, the High Court found there was "clear evidence" that the terms of Meehan's release from prison had been breached and ordered his surrender to Northern Ireland.