US trio lose extradition appeal over alleged child kidnap plot

Judges at the High Court in Edinburgh rejected the appeal against extradition

Three Americans facing trial over a child kidnap plot have lost an appeal against extradition from Scotland.

Jennifer Amnott, Valerie Hayes and Gary Reburn face life sentences in the US.

They were found living in Glasgow while wanted for an alleged attempt to kidnap five children and kill their parents.

Lawyers said a potential mandatory life sentence in the US, without parole, was a breach of their human rights. But judges at the High Court in Edinburgh rejected their appeal bid.

Scotland's most senior judge, the Lord Justice General, Lord Carloway, said: "The crimes, which the appellants have allegedly committed, are extraordinary."

Lord Carloway said that Valerie Hayes, 40, and boyfriend Gary Reburn, 58, told Ms Amnott that they had three children who had "been captured" by two families in West Virginia.

Kidnapping attempt

They allegedly told Ms Amnott that if she and her husband helped recover the children, she could keep one of the families' other children.

The judge said Ms Amnott was "desperate to start a family".

Lord Carloway added: "They planned to achieve armed entry, the securing of the children and the murdering of the parents by shooting them. The plan was put into action."

In his judgement, he detailed the reported kidnapping attempt of July 29, 2018.

Ms Amnott's husband Frank admitted conspiracy to kidnap in Virginia in December 2019

He said: "The group approached the house of the first family in the rural setting of Dayton, West Virginia. They entered it while the family, including children aged two years and eight months , were in church."

"Later during the hours of darkness they approached the house again. The group forced entry and secured the father in the basement, binding his wrists.

"The mother had managed to escape and contacted the police. When the police arrived, only Mr Amnott was still in the house, along with the father and his children.

"He was holding the father at gunpoint. He was arrested. The others had left and, within days, fled to Scotland."

'Grossly disproportionate'

Ms Amnott's husband, 33-year-old Frank Amnott, admitted conspiracy to kidnap and to kill witnesses at a court in Virginia in December 2019.

The other three were arrested in Scotland pending extradition to the US.

In their fight against being sent back they claimed that a life sentence without parole in the US, for a crime less than murder, was a "grossly disproportionate punishment" that breached the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

The trio earlier lost a legal battle at Edinburgh Sheriff Court but appealed the decision at the High Court.

Lord Carloway said that although life terms were not considered appropriate in Scotland, they were permitted in England and Wales, and were compliant with the ECHR provided there was a possibility of review and prospect of release.

He said prisoners in American could secure release through compassionate provisions and executive clemency.

He added: "It is not possible to conclude that a life sentence without parole is grossly disproportionate, for the purposes of triggering a breach of Article 3 of the ECHR, given the extreme gravity of the crimes charges.

"It should require some obvious and serious form of ill-treatment to bar the extradition to a country such as the United States for the crimes of conspiracy to murder parents and steal their children."