Extradition appeal woman jailed

An Aberdeen businesswoman has been returned to jail as judges consider her appeal against extradition.

Dorothy Fasola is wanted by the Italian authorities to serve a prison sentence after she was convicted of robbery.

She was released on bail last year after a sheriff in Edinburgh ruled that she was "unlawfully at large" and should be extradited.

Fasola, 58, is expected to serve two years and eight months if she is returned to Italy.

The Lord Justice Clerk, Lord Gill, sitting with Lord Johnston and Lord Nimmo Smith, announced that they would give their decision in the case at a later date, yet to be fixed.

Advocate depute Ruth Crawford told the court: "She has a lengthy sentence to serve in respect of two arrest warrants. She has of course been convicted."

She addded: "This is the last chance saloon, as it were. It is the position of Italy that she was deliberately absent from her trials. The sheriff found her to be a fugitive from justice."

Mungo Bovey QC, for Fasola, said she would undertake to make herself available for the enforcement of an extradition order if her appeal proved unsuccessful.

He argued that looking at all the circumstances in the case and taking into account the passage of time, it would not be fair to extradite Fasola.

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Sheriff Allan's judgement (Scottish Court Service website)
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