The extradition of five British men charged with attacking a footballer outside a Crete nightclub is underway, according to their solicitor. The men, all from Surrey and Sussex, deny stabbing ex-Oxford United player Robert Hughes, 28, from south London.
Curtis Taylor and Sean Branton, both 20 and from Horley, were due to fly from Heathrow Airport on Tuesday afternoon. Solicitor Karen Todner confirmed that the other three men will be extradited over the next few days.
Daniel Bell, 20, from Horley, is scheduled for extradition on Wednesday. George Hollands, 22, from Reigate, Surrey, and Benjamin Herdman, 20, from Worth, West Sussex, are booked on a flight on Thursday. Metropolitan Police officers will accompany the men to the airport and hand them over to Greek authorities.
The alleged attack occurred outside a nightclub in Crete in June 2008. Hughes, from Croydon, was left in a coma and required three life-saving brain operations. The men were detained under European arrest warrants in December after declining an offer to return voluntarily to Greece.
In February, City of Westminster Magistrates' Court ordered their extradition to face trial. Their appeal against the decision was rejected by the High Court last month, and an attempt to take the case to the European Court of Human Rights was also rebuffed. In a statement on Friday, Todner maintained their innocence and said they face "horrendous" conditions in a Greek prison.
