THE first sign that the original extradition warrant for Mr Anthony Duncan was missing now appears to have occurred shortly before his court appearance on April 13th, at Dublin District Court.
It is understood the fact that the Garda file contained a photocopy and not the original warrant was spotted by the solicitor from the Chief State Solicitor's Office, although this has not been officially acknowledged.
The solicitor, Ms Claire Loftus, examined the file at 9.30 a.m. on April 13th. She asked for an adjournment when the court convened an hour later.
It is understood gardai then undertook a search which failed to uncover the original.
At 1.45 p.m., when the case reconvened, Ms Loftus informed the court there was a "fundamental flaw" and the State could not proceed with the application.
The Minister for Justice, Mrs Owen, conceded on Wednesday that the "flaw" involved the misplacing or shredding of the original warrant at Garda Headquarters and its substitution with a photocopy.
Meanwhile, the Dail dispute over the Duncan extradition warrant became more embittered yesterday, with charge and counter charge over the way the issue was dealt with by the Government.
Government spokesman accused Fianna Fail of being "petty and childish" because the party had decided to review its level of co operation with the Government in the Dail following last Thursday's extradition debate.
The Fianna Fail chief whip, Mr Dermot Ahern, wrote yesterday to his Government counterpart, Mr Jim Higgins, to protest at the fact that the Opposition was only notified "at the very last minute" on Thursday that the Government had decided to change the order of business to allow for the debate.
A Government spokesman accused Fianna Fail of being "totally over the top, unreasonable, potentially damaging to the country's interests, petty and childish".
In a press statement, the Fianna Fail chief whip also criticised the way the matter was dealt with after the unsuccessful court application.
"The senior British policeman who travelled with the warrant, in order to formally prove it in court, must have been available immediately after the court case to verify that he produced the actual warrant in the Republic and that he handed it to the Garda authorities.
"In other words, this simplest inquiry must have made the representatives of the Attorney General's office and also the Chief State Solicitor's office clearly aware at a very early stage that the fault lay on the Irish side and not on the British. Despite this, neither the British (at least in public) nor the court, nor the Dail were informed of this obvious fact", Mr Ahern said.
