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Mafia boss Domenico Rancadore denied bail in high court ruling Mafia boss Domenico Rancadore denied bail in high court ruling
(about 3 hours later)
The high court has overturned a decision to grant bail to the fugitive mafia boss Domenico Rancadore, who was arrested in London after evading Italian authorities for 20 years. The mafia boss Domenico Rancadore is preparing to spend Christmas in a London prison after the high court overturned a decision to grant him bail.
The appeal by the Italians against bail being granted was delayed on Wednesday after judges heard that Rancadore, 64, had been taken to hospital with heart problems. Two senior judges on Thursday concluded there was a "very real risk" that the 64-year-old would attempt to abscond if he was allowed out of police custody at HMP Wandsworth in south London.
Lord Justice Goldring, sitting at London's high court with Mr Justice Ouseley, said it was clear that Rancadore had a heart problem and it was something that should be borne in mind. The ruling comes 24 hours after Rancadore was rushed to hospital suffering heart problems.
But there was "a real risk – indeed a very real risk – that he would abscond if granted bail". Rancadore has spent the past 14 weeks in police custody after detectives swooped on his suburban home in Uxbridge, west London, where he had been living with his family under the false name Marc Skinner for nearly two decades.
He is fighting extradition to Italy, where he was convicted in 1999 of associating with the mafia between December 1987 and 13 April 1995. He is accused of being a former "man of honour" in the Cosa Nostra group, for whom he allegedly collected bribes from builders in Trabia, near Palermo.
The high court decision means that Rancadore is almost certain to remain in police custody until mid-February, when Westminster magistrates are expected to hold a full extradition hearing.
Lord Justice Goldring said it was clear that Rancadore had a heart problem and it was something that should be borne in mind. But he added there was "a real risk – indeed a very real risk – that he would abscond if granted bail".
The judge added: "In my view this appeal should be allowed and Mr Rancadore remanded in custody."The judge added: "In my view this appeal should be allowed and Mr Rancadore remanded in custody."
Rancadore is wanted in Italy to serve a seven-year jail term for his role as "a man of honour" in Cosa Nostra, collecting bribes from builders in Trabia, near Palermo. The ruling overturns the decision of the judge Howard Riddle at Westminster magistrates court. Riddle said on Monday that he was minded to grant conditional bail following delays in the evidence-gathering process by prosecutors and after assessing the likelihood of further offending.
The chief magistrate Howard Riddle granted him bail at Westminster magistrates court on Monday, but he was not released after the prosecutor Hannah Hinton said there would be an appeal. Riddle added that Rancadore had no convictions or offences in this country since moving to London in 1994 and had "close family ties" and no connections outside of Italy "where I doubt he would wish to flee".
Rancadore was arrested on 8 August at his semi-detached home in Uxbridge, west London, where he lived under the false name Marc Skinner with his wife and children. If he had been allowed to leave police custody, Rancadore would have been ordered to visit a police station twice daily, wear an electronic tag, submit a security payment of £50,000 to the court, keep his mobile phone switched on and answer it at all times, and not apply for foreign travel documents.
He told officers upon his arrest that he was not going back to Italy because "they will kill me", the court heard previously. The father of two was discharged from St George's hospital back to HMP Wandsworth on Wednesday afternoon after undergoing angiogram examinations in the morning.
The conditions of bail set out by the chief magistrate included £50,000 security, residency at his home, a curfew, reporting to a police station twice daily, providing his phone number, keeping his mobile switched on and not applying for foreign travel documents. His wife of 37 years, Anne Skinner, told the court on Monday that she visited Rancadore three times a week – "every time there's a visit I visit him" – and that there was no chance he would leave her and their two children.
The court has previously heard that Rancadore was a leader in a murderous gang that "spread terror in Sicily". He was convicted of having mafia links in Italy in his absence after he had come to live in the UK with his family in 1993. Italian prosecutors claim that he received around £3,500 in bribe money, and "ensured strict compliance with the rules of the organisation", the court has heard. "My husband would never leave me," she said. "He would never go anywhere. He would never allow me to lose the house [which was proposed as a security condition of bail]. I can guarantee on my life he would never go anywhere."
He was found guilty of being part of the gang between December 1987 and April 1995. Rancadore was acquitted of previous mafia charges in 1993 after spending months in custody and more than two years under house arrest. He is next due to appear at Westminster magistrates court on 16 December for a preliminary hearing.
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