Injunction for Cyprus jail pair

The men were due to fly to Cyprus to start their sentence, until an 11th hour reprieve

Two cousins from Essex who are to be jailed in Cyprus for manslaughter have been granted a last-minute High Court injunction against extradition.

Michael Binnington and Luke Atkinson, from Witham, were due to face being taken to the country after they lost an appeal in the Supreme Court.

They were in a car which hit and killed a teenager on Cyprus in 2006.

Solicitor Karen Todner said the men had been granted a temporary injunction pending a full hearing on Thursday.

Driver imprisoned

Binnington, 23, and Atkinson, 24, were due to face extradition proceedings at a London police station later after their application for a final appeal failed on Tuesday.

They were each sentenced in their absence by the Supreme Court of Cyprus in 2008 to three years in jail.

Speaking of the development in the case, Ms Todner said: "This will allow the High Court to consider the issue of whether Mr Binnington and Mr Atkinson should be allowed to serve their sentences in the UK rather than Cyprus."

The men were passengers in a car being driven by Mr Atkinson's uncle, Julian Harrington, in Protaras, when it hit a moped, killing pillion passenger Christos Papiris, 17.

Harrington, also from Witham, is serving a 15-year jail sentence after admitting manslaughter and causing grievous bodily harm.

The pair were initially acquitted by a Cypriot court in February 2007, but that verdict was overturned by the higher court in January 2008.

In June, they lost a High Court fight against extradition.