Ciaran Tobin on Caboodle

Case of Irish driver who killed two kids in Hungary once again adjourned

By: MTI

2010-04-16 09:19

The High Court of Ireland has once again adjourned the extradition case of Francis Ciaran Tobin, an Irish man who ran over and killed two children while driving in Hungary in 2000.

Judicial sources told MTI in Dublin on Thursday that Tobin will have to appear in court next on April 21.

At recent hearings, held every few weeks, the court repeatedly adjourned the case and requested further documents.

Tobin, 43, a senior Irish Life insurance officer who represented his company in Hungary for three years, hit two children, aged two and five, when he swerved onto the pavement in his Volvo. The children died instantly.

In late 2000, when court proceedings got under way, the Hungarian court let him leave the country on bail. In October 2002, Tobin was sentenced to three years in prison in absentia. Following an appeal, the sentence was reduced to one and a half years. [THIS IS INCORRECT. TOBIN WAS SENTENCED TO THREE YEARS ON APPEAL. ED.]

Tobin, however, failed to return to Hungary to serve his prison term. Hungary formally asked for his extradition. The Irish Supreme Court rejected the request, arguing that Tobin left Hungary legally before the sentence was passed.

A recent Irish law amendment, urged by Hungary's former justice minister Tibor Draskovics, has made it possible for Irish authorities to take Tobin into custody, which they did in November last year. However, he has been freed on bail and must appear in the High Court for the hearings.

(Source: Caboodle.hu)