Accused killer to spend Christmas in Ireland
A former police officer who had to be extradited to the UK to stand trial for killing a fellow resident at a Salvation Army hostel was given permission to return home to Ireland for Christmas today (Mon).
Oliver Hurley, 63, allegedly pushed 56-year-old Manolito Chando to the floor at the homeless shelter near Westminster Abbey in London on 24 March 2016.
Mr Chando, a Croatian, suffered catastrophic head injuries when he hit the ground and died in hospital two weeks later on 9 April 2016.
Hurley, a former member of the Republic of Ireland’s Garda from Co Wicklow, was released on police bail but returned to Ireland.
He arrested under a European Arrest Warrant six months later and resisted extradition until a court ordered him to be flown to the UK in January this year.
Hurley represented himself at his Old Bailey trial earlier this month but the jury failed to reach a verdict on the charge of manslaughter.
The prosecution confirmed they would seek a retrial and the case was listed for 23 April next year.
Hurley applied for his bail conditions to be lifted temporarily so he could visit his sick elderly father in Ireland between 15 and 30 December.
He also asked for his 9pm to 7am curfew to be removed to allow him to enjoy social occasions with friends.
Judge Rebecca Poulet QC, said his passport should be returned for the trip to Ireland but warned him: ‘If you don’t come back you will have to go through extradition all over again.’
Hurley replied: ‘I know that.’
Judge Poulet shortened the curfew to between 10pm and 7am but rejected Hurley’s pleas to move it further back to 11pm.
The judge also repeated urged Hurley to get legal representation, adding: ‘It is in your own best interests.’
Hurley appeared in court with his brother, former Dublin schoolteacher Maurice Hurley, who starred in the RTE reality show ‘The Colony’ with his wife and four children in 2005.
During the trial Hurley told the jury he dropped out of the Garda after he found God and became a pacifist in 1980.
He said Mr Chando was clearly drunk and started racially abusing fellow residents before telling Hurley: ‘You’re nothing but a big Irish bas**rd.’
Hurley claimed Mr Chando held up the lift by repeatedly pressing the button and blocking the doors.
He said he pushed Mr Chando away with an open palm because he feared being attacked.
Hurley denies trying to evade justice and says he was playing Irish songs on the flute in Trafalgar Square while police were hunting for him in Ireland.
Hurley, of (229) Wandsworth Bridge Road, south London, denies manslaughter and an alternative charge of common assault.
