Extradition woman returns to jail

Dorothy Fasola is fighting extradition to Italy

A Scottish businesswoman is back in prison while judges decide whether to extradite her to Italy.

Last year a sheriff ruled Dorothy Fasola should be turned over to Italian authorities to serve a prison sentence after she was convicted of robbery.

Fasola, from Aberdeen, appealed but the process stalled when one of the judges died before giving a decision.

The 58-year-old was released on bail but has been jailed again until three new judges give their ruling.

Fasola's appeal was heard at the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh on Tuesday.

Her appeal was heard last year but one of the judges, Lord Johnstone, died before delivering his decision.

Passage of time

The appeal had to be reheard by three new judges - Lord Nimmo Smith, Lord Kingarth and Lady Smith - and Fasola was released on bail ahead of the new hearing.

But she was taken back into custody until the judges give their decision at a later date.

Defence counsel Edward Targowski QC told the hearing Fasola had documents showing the Italian authorities had known where she was since 2001 but delayed coming after her.

He said the Italian authorities, knowing Fasola's address in Aberdeen, had allowed her to carry on with her life and build up her business for years before making moves to extradite her.

"It is submitted that it would be oppressive in relation to her extradition due to the passage of time," said the QC.

"It would cause hardship to her as a result of the changes in her circumstances during the period from the very first conviction."

'Shaky foundation'

But Ruth Crawford, QC for the Crown, argued that Fasola always knew she faced possible extradition.

Ms Crawford told the court: "The sheriff found that she had deliberately absented herself from her trials, she left for Scotland in 1999 when her first appeal was ongoing and she then proceeded to build a life for herself in Scotland.

"Any sense of security she has acquired since that time has been built on a shaky foundation. She left at a time when she was aware that her criminal proceedings were still ongoing."

Fasola was given a four-year sentence in 1998 by a court in Milan after being found guilty of helping to set up an armed robbery seven years earlier, but fled to Scotland in 1999 while appealing her conviction.

She has also been convicted twice, in 1995 and 2001, of counterfeiting currency and still has almost six-and-a-half years to serve for those offences.