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Independent Ireland TD Ken O’Flynn has criticised Ireland’s “immigration enforcement measures” after a child predator, on the run from UK authorities, was arrested in Cork.
The Cork North-Central representative said, “A man convicted of raping four children under 13 years old in Leeds fled to Ireland while on bail. He spent 33 days on the run before he was found by Gardaí and arrested in a town in North Cork.”
Jason Spence, aged 38, of Roker Lane, Pudsey, was found guilty following a trial at Leeds Crown Court of multiple crimes, including four rape offences and five offences of assault by touching. All the victims were under 13 at the time of the offences.
He was also found guilty of offences related to making indecent images of children and possessing prohibited images of children.
Spence was released by the court on the 2nd of April on conditional bail ahead of sentencing, but a warrant was then issued for his arrest after he failed to attend court on 16 April.
Pointing to another case where a man was extradited from this jurisdiction, Deputy O’Flynn said, “Recently, a different man of Pakistani and German nationality was arrested in Cork and returned to Germany, where he is wanted for alleged kidnapping offences.”
Khalid Kurshid (57) of Main Street, Killorglin, Co Kerry was arrested at a massage parlour in Cork last week on foot of a SIS (Schengen Information System) alert in relation to “kidnapping, illegal restraint or hostage-taking”.
At a hearing before the Extradition Court in Dublin on the 29th of June last, counsel for the DPP, Jane Murphy BL, told Mr Justice Sean Gillane at the Central Criminal Court that the accused had taken his daughter to Pakistan without having permission to do so. The girl is now considered a “high-risk missing person” by German authorities.
Deputy O’Flynn said, “These cases are extremely concerning. Ireland needs to have a serious debate about immigration enforcement measures. It is unacceptable that Ireland can be treated as a destination for foreign convicts or wanted persons to escape justice and accountability.”
Also on the 29th of June, an Afghan asylum seeker appeared before the Extradition Court, having fled to Ireland while under suspicion of being part of a gang in which eight men (including the accused) have now been charged with offences related to group-based child sexual exploitation.
Bilal Shinwari (20) is charged with two counts of rape of a girl aged under 16 and one count of conspiring to rape a girl aged under 16 years between August 2023 and October 2023. He is also charged with one count of conspiring to rape a woman aged 16 or over between August 2023 and May 2025.
Turning to the issue of asylum in Ireland, Deputy O’Flynn said, “We know that most asylum applicants in Ireland are economic migrants.”
“We know that most of them arrive through Northern Ireland. The Taoiseach and other government Ministers have confirmed these facts on several occasions. But application refusals are not removals, and an unmonitored border is an open invitation.”
“Until the government enforces deportations and puts real screening measures into the routes it has itself identified, Ireland risks becoming a refuge for asylum scammers and foreign criminals fleeing justice in other jurisdictions,” he concluded.
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