In November 2014, a European Arrest Warrant was granted by Westminster Magistrates’ Court for the arrest of our client for offences relating to the trafficking in human beings and facilitation of unauthorised entry and residence. The offences related to the wholesale trafficking of girls and young women from Nigeria to Europe for the purposes of sexual exploitation. The indictment included 14 counts that took place between August 2011 to May 2012 and related to our client’s major involvement in the trafficking of young women and girls for sexual exploitation.

Our client was sentenced to a total of 22 years’ imprisonment. Under the provisions of section 243 of the Criminal Justice Act 2023, she spent 309 days on remand awaiting extradition to the United Kingdom and was later sentenced to a term of imprisonment, but this credit had not been deducted.

The CCRC have agreed to refer our client’s case to the Court of Appeal on the basis that the Court erred in failing to declare that the number of days spent in custody in Nigeria pending extradition should be deducted from her sentence. This point had previously been missed by the trial team at first instance and the legal team who acted for her on appeal. Only 1.7% of CCRC applications were referred to the Court of Appeal in 2024 so the referral is an extremely rare achievement. If successful, our client’s sentence will be reduced by 309 days.

The client was represented by Julie Ann Boyle and Paramjit Ahluwalia of One Pump Court Chambers.