Con Air UK: Flights take Polish criminals home - and the cost to you is £25million

Published 20th Feb 2010

Shackled inside a military transport plane, dozens of Polish criminals arrested in Britain are flown home to face a court.

The secret fortnightly flights, dubbed Con Air, involve around 30 Polish police officers landing at a small airport near London as part of a massive security operation to return fugitives who have fled to Britain across open borders.

The prisoners are led across the runway handcuffed, carrying their possessions in plastic bags, and strapped into the seats of the usually full 80-seater Polish military twin-propeller aircraft.

The number of Eastern European fugitives captured in Britain has increased so much that the flights have become a regular fortnightly event at Biggin Hill Airport.

But the administration cost to the British taxpayer is £25million. And some of those extradited are back in the UK within three days of being dealt with in their home country.

Police said some of the Poles - who have come here in large numbers since the expansion of the EU in 2004 allowed them free rights of movement - are wanted back home for serious crimes.

But others are suspected of minor offences which carry only a maximum one-year jail sentence - meaning most receive only a fine when sentenced.

Critics say it is evidence of problems-with the European Arrest Warrant, which was rushed in shortly after the 9/11 attacks to tackle terrorism.

It is based on the principle of 'mutual recognition', which means that if one country demands a person's extradition, others must recognise that decision, with little room for appeal. In 2008, nearly 14,000 such warrants were issued across Europe - with 351 people extradited from the UK alone, many of them Poles.

A senior police source said: 'We've had requests to arrest people who are wanted for motoring offences and it's cost a fortune on interpreters, transport and man hours processing them for the flight for them to only return a few days later.

'It's insane that we're wasting our time and resources processing these people for such trivial crimes. The Poles want all their offenders tracked down no matter what.'

British officials went to Poland to plead for a let-up in the extradition of those wanted for minor offences, but to no avail. Polish government officials say they are constitutionally bound to find every offender.

A spokesman for the Polish interior ministry defended the flights, saying: 'There is no other way.'

Since Poland joined the EU in 2004, hundreds who were facing court hearings have fled to disappear among Britain's huge community of around 600,000 Poles.

In 2007, the Met's Extradition Unit was asked to trace 257 Polish suspects. A total of 135 were sent home on commercial flights - at a cost to the Met of £300,000.

The huge cost led to a Polish military plane being used instead. At first the flights were monthly, but this has now become a fortnightly, or in 'peak periods' weekly, flight.

The number of criminals extradited from Britain to Poland is expected to treble under a new European police forces information sharing-scheme that is estimated will cost Britain an extra £17million in administration fees alone.

Since April last year, the Met alone received 210 extradition requests from Poland.

In 2009, Britain extradited a total of 516 offenders to other countries after receiving 3,526 arrest warrants from foreign governments.

A Home Office spokesman said: 'The European Arrest Warrant plays a vital role in ensuring that those who attempt to evade justice by crossing a border within the EU are quickly brought to justice.'

Source: ' Daily Mail '

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