LONDON (ENGLAND)
Daily Mail
Nov. 8, 2019
A retired Sydney priest accused of sexually abusing six children in the United Kingdom in the 1970s has lost a legal bid against extradition.
Denis Alexander, 83, was arrested in Australia in January 2017 after the UK requested his extradition over allegations he’d physically and sexually abused children at a Catholic boarding school in Scotland between 1970 and 1976.
The children were aged between 11 and 15 at the time.
More than two years after his arrest, federal Attorney-General Christian Porter made a decision to surrender Alexander to the UK in March 2019.
Alexander then filed an application in the Federal Court to have the decision reviewed.
Alexander’s barrister, Greg Smith SC, argued the advice given to the attorney-general paid ‘insufficient attention’ to the priest’s age and the risk to his health if he was forced to travel to the UK.
The court was told Alexander suffers from several chronic and ongoing health problems and has been diagnosed with cognitive impairment. He has a preliminary assessment of early dementia.
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