Student to fight extradition

Andrew Symeou, 19, is accused of hitting Jonathan Hiles, 18, with such force that he fell off a nightclub stage suffering fatal head injuries on the island of Zakynthos in July last year.

District Judge Quentin Purdy, sitting at the City of Westminster Magistrates Court, ordered Symeou, from Enfield, London, be sent to Greece to stand trial.

Talented roller hockey player Mr Hiles from Llandaff North, Cardiff, was taken to hospital in Athens but died on July 22.

Bournemouth University student Symeou was held by the Metropolitan Police Extradition Unit in June on suspicion of manslaughter after a European arrest warrant was issued by Greek authorities.

He has always denied hitting Mr Hiles and said he knew nothing of the death until returning to the UK shortly after the alleged incident.

Two of Symeou's friends had previously told the court they had been physically and verbally intimidated by Greek police during questioning following Mr Hiles's death.

His lawyer John Jones had opposed that the 19-year-old be extradited to Greece on numerous legal grounds, but Mr Purdy said the proper place for a legal argument to be discussed was during the trial.

He told the court: "I cannot but observe that this case has attracted a degree of press and public interest. One young man sits in the dock, another is dead. Emotions inevitably run high. Allegations abound and truth is an all-too-easy casualty."

Mr Symeou appeared shaky on his feet as his extradition order was read to the court. Several of his friends and family burst into tears in the packed public gallery immediately after the verdict. Mr Symeou's father Frank, later confirmed that an appeal was to be launched against the ruling.