The High Court in Dublin has ordered the extradition of two convicted murderers to the United Kingdom, though a stay has been placed on their surrender pending appeal. Mr Justice John Edwards directed that Anthony Craig, aged 66, and Michael Anthony Balmer, aged 62, be surrendered to UK authorities. Craig was convicted of murder in Blackburn in 1973, while Balmer received a life sentence in 1984 for a fatal attack in Devon. Craig, who escaped from British custody after serving 28 years and subsequently lived in Cork and Leitrim, was arrested in Dublin in February 2013. Balmer, released on licence in 2012, was arrested in Cork after his licence was revoked. The judge granted Craig bail under strict conditions during the stay. Mr Justice Edwards determined that constitutional questions raised by the defence warranted referral to the Supreme Court as matters of exceptional public importance.
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