John Downey: Double murder accused to be extradited to NI
- Published
John Downey was arrested on suspicion of the murder of two soldiers in 1972
A County Donegal man wanted in Northern Ireland on suspicion of involvement in the murder of two soldiers is to be extradited from the Republic of Ireland.
John Downey, 67, was previously accused of the murders of four soldiers in the 1982 IRA Hyde Park bombing.
He was to stand trial for those murders in 2014 but the trial collapsed.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) sought the extradition over the murder of two men in in 1972.
Alfred Johnston and James Eames of the Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) were killed in a bomb attack in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh.
Mr Downey was detained in the Republic of Ireland last October under a European arrest warrant.
On Friday the High Court ordered his extradition to Northern Ireland.
His extradition has been delayed until Wednesday to allow him leave to appeal.
Mr Downey's trial at the Old Bailey in London for the murders of four soldiers in the Hyde Park bombing collapsed when it emerged that he had received a so-called "on-the-runs" letter.