Iceland court keeps Irish rape suspect in custody
Tuesday 10th November 2026 on 12:01 in
Iceland
An Icelandic appeals court has upheld the detention of a man wanted by Ireland over a rape case dating to 2004, mbl.is reported. Police say he lived and worked in Iceland for years using a false passport.
The man is accused of raping a woman and repeatedly assaulting her in Ireland in May 2004. The alleged offences carry a possible life sentence under Irish law. He denies the accusations and opposes being handed over to Ireland.
He has been ordered held until December 1 while Irish authorities’ extradition request is considered. On November 5, the Court of Appeal upheld a Reykjavik District Court ruling from November 3. The man had sought to have the ruling overturned, or alternatively to be subject to a travel ban or a shorter period of detention.
According to police documents cited in the district court ruling, Icelandic authorities received a European arrest warrant from Ireland dated September 24, 2014. It was based on an Irish arrest warrant issued in December 2007. Ireland has confirmed that the warrant remains in force and is seeking his handover.
The warrant says the man left Ireland shortly after being released from police custody in 2004. He was arrested again in 2007 and charged, then released on bail subject to conditions including surrendering his travel documents. He did not appear in court in October that year, and Irish authorities’ efforts to find him were unsuccessful.
Police said facial comparison and fingerprints confirmed his identity, while foreign authorities confirmed he changed his name in 2012. A police examination found that the passport he possessed was forged. Police said he had used it to live and work in Iceland for years as an EEA citizen, despite not being entitled to that status.
During questioning, the man acknowledged the Irish case and confirmed that the information in the arrest warrant related to him. He denied the allegations and said he had changed his name because of an inheritance matter. He told the district court that he first came to Iceland in 2006 and had lived there since 2017, had no family in the country and had few personal ties to it.
The district court considered him a flight risk who might try to avoid extradition and prosecution. In reaching that conclusion, it cited his limited ties to Iceland, his years living there under another name and the seriousness of the alleged offences.