Stonehouse to be extradited

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33883, 1 July 1975, Page 17

Stonehouse to be extradited

<set» Zealand Press Association-Copyright) LONDON, June 30. lhe granting of extradition warrants in Melbourne today against John Stonehouse and his secretary, Sheila Buckley, means that the runaway British Labour member of Parliament will be brought before a British court to answer the 21 charges of fraud, theft, and conspiracy he faces. Bucklay faces six charges.

There is still no date for Stonehouse’s arrival back in London, since he has the right of appeal against the decision of the Melbourne Chief Magistrate (Mr Cyril) Thompson), and this might; take months. It is understood that Detective Chief Superintendent! Kenneth Etheridge, deputy commander of Scotland j Yard’s fraud squad, is still in Australia. The Chief Magistrate said that he was satisfied, from the evidence at a preliminary hearing, that Stonehouse had planned his disappearance in Florida last year, and had taken steps to establish two new identities. j “Stonehouse’s whole 1 course of conduct, including I his disappearance, gives the inference that he obtained credit cards, airline tickets, ■

and a traveller’s cheque intending to defraud fouri companies,’* Mr Thompson : said, adding that there wasj evidence of a conspiracy be-! tween Stonehouse and Buckley relating to an alleged defrauding of a company in ; Britain. Mr Thompson said that he supported the Common-I wealth submissions on five) charges of false pretences against five British insurancei companies allegedly involving <220.000. The immediate reaction of I Buckley’s father to the news of the extradition order was: -We shall be happy to see: them back." Mr Leslie Black

I said that he and his wife heard regularly from their i daughter by telephone and i mail. Mrs Barbara Stonehouse, speaking from her London ‘home, declined to comment. The British House of ; Commons has been told that a debate on the motion to expel Stonehouse from Parliament —he is the member for 'Walsall North—has been deferred: the Government was advised that to proceed with the debate could be pre-; judicial to the conduct of! [any subsequent legal pro-1 ceedings against him.