Sex offender released due to ‘misinterpretation of the law’

The High Court has ordered the release of Juilan Mysercough, 57, due to a flaw in the legality of his detention.

Mr Myerscough, a former lecturer at the University of East Anglia, fled the UK for Ireland while on bail for child pornography offences in 2015, having been convicted of the same offence in 2010.

Mr Justice Paul McDermott held that Mr Myerscough had not been extradited to the UK within legal time limits.

A legal source told The Irish Times: “They misinterpreted the law. I think they took a view of the law which wasn’t correct.

“They should have done one of two things. They should have surrendered him or they should have gone back to the High Court and asked for more time. Neither was done.”

Irish authorities expect the UK to issue a new arrest warrant to allow them to restart the process, but he is free to leave the country in the meantime. A new arrest warrant could take up to a week to be issued.