A Roma woman who claimed her children were happy at school in Ireland, but face bullying if returned to Czechia, has lost an extradition case.
The woman, who faces jail in Czechia for shoplifting and has been accused of stealing ‘chicken wrap strips’ worth €3 from Tesco, has lost her bid to remain in Ireland.
Lucie Balgova, who is a member of the Roma community, had argued that she had suffered extreme prejudice in all aspects of her life in Czechia, also known as the Czech Republic.
A Roma woman who claimed her children were happy at school in Ireland, but face bullying if returned to Czechia, has lost an extradition case. Pic: Getty Images
The mother-of-three also claimed that her two older children, aged 15 and 12, had been bullied in Czechia due to their ethnicity, but had ‘flourished’ at school in Portlaoise, Co. Laois.
She claimed her surrender to her home country would be a breach of her and her family’s rights under the European Convention on Human Rights.
But Judge Patrick McGrath noted Ms Balgova had come here in the full knowledge she had a 12-month sentence imposed upon her.
Decin, Czech Republic. Pic: Getty Images
He said the sentence had been handed down by a district court in Decin in October 2023, for two acts of theft, and she was also wanted for prosecution for an alleged third theft.
The box ticked in the relevant European Arrest Warrant was for ‘scam/swindling’, he said. A narrative account of the theft referred to shoplifting, he said.
The first two offences were carried out in late 2022 and early 2023, while in the third she was alleged to have stolen ‘two pieces of chicken strips wrap from a Tesco Local store’.
Pic: Getty Images
Ms Balgova had told the court the children’s father was serving a custodial sentence in Czechia, and she was the sole carer for her children, with no relative or friend who could step in to help.
Judge McCarthy said that ‘given the relatively minor nature of this offending and alleged offending’, the court had written to the Czech authorities, asking whether – bearing in mind her family circumstances – her surrender was still sought. They said it was, pointing to a criminal record that was not disclosed in the High Court judgment.
They stated: ‘Given the defendant’s personality, her criminal history and the number of unconditional prison sentences she has not served, it is obvious that she fled to Ireland to avoid the sentences already imposed and the prosecution in the present case.
‘The legal system of the Czech Republic does not allow for any other course of action than to insist on her extradition.’
Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan said her alleged theft of the chicken strips highlighted a risk of recidivism. He said: ‘Whilst the respondent may suffer hardship from being separated from her children if surrendered, this is an inevitable consequence of all surrenders where a respondent is the mother of young children.’
Judge McCarthy ruled: ‘There is a strong public interest in the surrender of persons accused or convicted of criminal offences to countries with which this State has extradition or surrender agreements.
‘Disruption, indeed, significant disruption, of family and private life is the norm where surrender is ordered and this cannot ordinarily justify a refusal to surrender on foot of an otherwise lawful request.’
Ordering her return, he said someone in similar circumstances here wouldn’t be immune from punishment because they were the primary carer of young children.