The Italian authorities have abandoned a four-year bid to extradite an Albanian chef who lives in the UK after admitting they had "got the wrong man".

Edmond Arapi was convicted in absentia by an Italian court in 2006 and sentenced to 16 years in jail for the murder of Castillo Marcello, who was stabbed to death in Genoa in October 2004.

Today Arapi heard at the high court that the case, which his lawyer described as "outrageous", had been dropped.

The 29-year-old chef, who lives in Leek, Staffordshire, said he knew nothing about the murder and had an alibi.

Lawyers for the Italian government said they were withdrawing the extradition request after conceding that Arapi had been the victim of identity theft.

John Hardy QC, appearing for Arapi, said: "With respect, this case is outrageous - there is no other way to describe it."

Arapi, jubilant after the judge discharged the case, but still wearing an electronic tag, said: "I have been ringing my family to tell them the news.

" I am so happy now but this has been a nightmare for me that words cannot describe.

"Tonight I shall be celebrating and then I shall get back to being a chef or something, but I want to move on in my life."

Before the U-turn by the Italian authorities, Arapi had been facing a high court battle against removal.

But Gemma Lindfield, appearing for the Italian prosecutor's office, rose at the start of the hearing to apply to withdraw the arrest warrant supporting the extradition request.

Lord Justice Pitchford asked: "Got the wrong man?"

"Yes," Lindfield replied.

Apologising for her "11th hour" application, she said the Italian authorities had received information last week that the Italian judiciary "may have had the wrong identity of the person sought for the murder of Castillo Marcello."

Yesterday it was confirmed by fingerprint analysis "that it was the wrong person", Lindfield said.

"In these circumstances this court must order [Arapi's] discharge and quash the order for his extradition," she conceded.

The human rights charity Fair Trials International had supported Arapi's case, arguing he had a "compelling" alibi as he had not left the UK between 2000 and 2006.

He was working at Cafe Davide in Trentham during the period, and was attending classes towards his chef's qualification on the day the murder was committed.

Jago Russell, chief executive of the charity, said the past year had been a "nightmare" for Arapi.

"His case is clear evidence that countries requesting extradition sometimes get it wrong. Italian and British authorities have taken a common sense approach to this case," he said.

"We hope European countries will now work together to reform the EU's fast-track extradition system to prevent similar cases of injustice in future."

The judge also launched a damning attack on the European arrest warrant [EAW] system.

"However one looks at it, the EAW was followed by a letter from the Office of Public Prosecutions of the court in Genoa saying in effect Mr Arapi's DNA was, so to speak, 'all over the crime scene'," the judge said.

"That was subsequently withdrawn, but not in time to save Mr Arapi five weeks in custody followed by release on stringent bail terms, including the wearing of an electronic tag he has on him at this moment."