Fugitive Mafia boss Domenico Rancadore today won his battle against extradition back to Italy.
The 65-year-old, dubbed The Professor, was bailed after the judge changed his ruling in the wake of a similar case at London’s High Court last week.
Rancadore, who was arrested in August after evading the Italian authorities for 20 years, was told to secure his bail with £20,000, given a curfew and ordered to report to police every day.
Senior district judge Howard Riddle told Westminster magistrates’ court today the judgment of the higher court was ‘binding’ and he ‘could not distinguish’ between the cases.
Rancadore got into the wrong car after leaving court, as he and his wife had covered their faces with scarves.
When asked if her husband was happy to be out, his wife Anne Skinner said: ‘Yes, of course he is. He’s happy to be home.’
Rancadore moved to Uxbridge, west London, with his wife and their two children in 1994, the court was told.
But he was detained under a European arrest warrant on August 7 2013 over his alleged activities as a Cosa Nostra ‘man of honour’ in Trabia, Sicily.
Originally, judge Riddle said he was happy to extradite Rancadore, who has a serious heart condition. But he changed his mind following the ruling in a case involving Hayle Abdi Badre.
It stated there was ‘an insufficient assurance’ the defendant’s rights would not be breached if he returned to Italy.