Extradition of Former PMC / RMP Alleged Fraudster

[dinosaur_poo]

Searched ARRSE but no suggestion of a re-post. In Daily Wail:

A British soldier who has served in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Northern Ireland is to be extradited to America over allegations of a $100,000 fraud.

David McIntyre, 41, lost a legal battle in the High Court on Friday, when a judge dismissed medical evidence that showed he is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and now faces a possible 20-year jail sentence.

It is the latest case involving Britain’s controversial extradition treaty with America which critics say discriminates against Britons.

Suicide-risk British soldier to be extradited to U.S. over allegations of $100,000 fraud | Mail Online

No doubt the PMC scene in Iraq was a big industry with some unscrupulous players involved. Is this the right way to go about it?

Sure if the guy's swindled somebody out of $100,000 then he's liable to get prosecuted. I don't believe that any amount of military service should protect you from the justice system - or equally that medical proof that you have PTSD should exempt you from the justice system. But are we extraditing him for the right reasons, or are the yanks looking for a scapegoat so they can say "Nothing to do with us - it was a Brit. Fact."? The sceptic in me wonders whether the fact that Cameron and his pals have their tongues so far up Washington's arrses, means that they would have no issues in sending a sacrificial lamb to the slaughter if it means that the inter-continental relationship remains in good shape.

 

[Biscuits_AB]

Former QLR? We need some 'previous'. Where's Sluggy when you need her? I think he may have been RMP (V).

 

[dinosaur_poo]

The thing is, as far as I can see, his involvement with the British Army is, in this matter, utterly irrelevant.

The crime he is supposed to have committed was done so whilst a civilian. And he is being prosecuted as a civilian. He was in the military - but there is nothing to suggest that this has any influence or bearing on the legal case he is engaged in. The Mail are probably only mentioning it because of their normal policy of "everyone in the army is a saint" - as was seen with Danny Nightingale, who did indeed commit a crime and seemed to get off because enough people kicked up a stink and said "why are you persecuting a guy who served his country? He must be perfect"

My wonder is, like I said, whether the British government genuinely feel that he has committed a crime which cannot be resolved in the UK and are extraditing him by necessity so that he can face justice in the country of jurisdiction; or whether the Americans want a foreign scapegoat to point the finger at, with our politicians playing the "fine by us, as long as we can stay friends" card rather than the defending-their-own-people card that if they weren't quite so spineless they might play more often.

 

[DeltaDog]

Mr McIntyre, who is being represented by law firm Kaim Todner, added: ‘I think, after serving my country all my life, the least I can expect is to be helped with my PTSD and allowed to prove my innocence in my own country.

‘I am fearful that I would take my own life as I would rather be dead than be locked up in an American prison away from my family.

Self entitled coward.

 

[Bouillabaisse]

The standard "I don't want to face an American court" defence - invent a medical condition and hire a PR agency. The US govt should offer to hospitalise these people on arrival. I've seen "One flew over the cuckoo's nest"