Ex-company boss to face USA court

A British boss is to face charges of price fixing in a USA court after the Home Office ordered his extradition.

The former chief executive of abrasives manufacturer Morgan Crucible, Ian Norris, 62, is accused of operating an international cartel for carbon.

American lawyers said that he destroyed documents and leaned on staff to hide deals in Europe and America.

Lawyers for Mr Norris, of Bourne End, Bucks, said he retired due to illness in 2002 and should not face charges.

At a hearing at Bow Street Magistrates' Court District Judge Nicholas Evans ruled it would not be "unjust or oppressive" to send Norris to the US for trial.

Important part of upholding the rule of law in the international economy The Home Office

Judge Evans gave the Home Secretary two months to decide whether the extradition should take place, and granted Mr Norris conditional bail.

The time has expired and the former chief executive of Windsor-based Morgan Crucible must now travel to Pennsylvania to face seven counts of conspiracy to defraud and two counts of perverting the course of justice.

His lawyers are now going to appeal against the Home Office decision and may even take it to the House of Lords.

A spokeswoman for the Home Office said allowing people to be extradited for alleged "white collar" crime was an "important part of upholding the rule of law in the international economy".