

A Scottish man wanted in Florida for first degree murder is taking his appeal against extradition to the European court of human rights in a long-running case that could prevent all similar removals to the US in future.

Lawyers for Phillip Harkins, who has been on remand for 11 years in Belmarsh prison, say he is being subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment because he faces a whole life sentence without prospect of release if convicted of killing a cannabis dealer.

If such an “accidental shooting” had occurred in the UK, according to his solicitor, Yasmin Aslam, it would involve a manslaughter trial. Harkins, 38, denies even being present at the robbery in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1999.

US prosecutors have assured the UK government he would not be executed. However, Florida imposes either the death penalty or life imprisonment without parole on anyone convicted of murder in the course of a robbery even if it was not premeditated.

Harkins relies on several landmark ECHR judgments which have ruled that whole life sentences without any chance of release violate article 3 of the European convention on human rights which bans torture, inhuman or degrading treatment. Penal reformers refer to the principle as the “right to hope”.

If the upper chamber of the Strasbourg court upholds his appeal, it could provoke transatlantic recriminations between Europe and Donald Trump’s incoming administration in Washington. A refusal to hand Harkins over to US prosecutors would set a precedent across all 47 member states of the Council of Europe and could also spark a fresh bout of Eurosceptic criticism of human rights judges.

The complex case has detoured through the courts for the past decade with many of his lawyers working pro-bono – without pay – because no legal aid is provided for appeals to Strasbourg.

Aslam said: “If we win, this will set a precedent. It’s been a long, drawn-out battle. The law has evolved so much over the past 10 years. Such an accidental shooting in this country would be a manslaughter case. All of the prosecution witnesses say the shooting was accidental. It wasn’t premeditated.”

Originally from Scotland, Harkins was arrested on 11 August 1999 in Florida and questioned over the killing of Joshua Hayes the previous evening. Harkins said he had spent the night with his fiancee, Keisha Thompson. She confirmed this. Forensic tests of his clothes revealed no link to the shooting. Six weeks later he was told he would not be charged and his prosecution was formally discontinued.

But the following January a new Florida state attorney reviewed the case and interviewed another suspect, Terry Glover, who had been arrested in connection with the crime. Glover, who agreed to plead to a lesser offence of robbery with a weapon, said Harkins had been responsible for the shooting. Glover eventually received five years’ probation.

Harkins was rearrested. In pre-trial disclosures other witnesses insisted he had not been present at the shooting. Harkins was not taken into custody and was released without court conditions. He left the US in December 2001 and returned to the UK.

Back in Scotland, he was involved in a fatal car accident in 2003 and sentenced to five years in jail. At that point Scotland Yard’s extradition unit arrested him and he was ordered to be handed over to US prosecutors in 2006. He has been in custody since then, protesting his innocence.

Aslam, who is with the Manchester law firm AGI Criminal Solicitors, has worked on the case with another solicitor, Baljit Singh. The barristers Edward Fitzgerald QC and Ben Cooper of Doughty Street Chambers will represent Harkins at the ECHR grand chamber hearing on Wednesday. The judgment is likely to be reserved.

Another barrister specialising in extradition cases, Ben Keith, said Harkins has a very strong case.

Referring to the ECHR case of Vinter and Others v UK, Keith said: “To uphold his appeal would be to say that no one [on a first degree murder charge] can be extradited to the USA without a review of their sentence. I can’t see that the US will change that rule and make special conditions for people extradited from Europe. Under Vinter, the ECHR said you can’t lock someone up and throw away the key with no possibility of release because that’s inhuman and degrading.”