The Guardian
European arrest warrant that Piotr Kupiec was detained under withdrawn after police arrested another man with same name
Piotr Kupiec was wanted by Interpol at the time of his arrest in Devizes, Wiltshire. Photograph: Interpol
A Polish murder suspect who was on Interpol’s most wanted list before he was found working in a sandwich shop close to the headquarters of an English police force has been ordered to be freed from prison because of an administrative error.
Piotr Kupiec, 28, was the subject of an international manhunt in connection with the death of a man following a football match in 2007.
He was arrested at a Subway shop in Devizes in January, near the Wiltshire police headquarters, and was due to appear at Westminster magistrates court on Wednesday for an extradition hearing.
But the European arrest warrant under which he was detained was withdrawn because police investigating the case had arrested another man with the same name, making it invalid.
A new warrant was due to be issued at the London court and Kupiec rearrested, but an administrative error meant he was not brought there from Wandsworth prison.
District Judge Quentin Purdy said there was now no lawful reason for him to be held and ordered him to be freed. He said: “There is no power to hold him. He has to be released.”
Kupiec was due to be released from prison, but was expected to be rearrested by police at the gates under the new warrant.
A spokesman for the National Crime Agency, which processes the warrants, said: “A new European arrest warrant (EAW) for Piotr Kupiec has been certified and sent to the court and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).
“In these circumstances, the subject is required to be produced at the court from prison to allow him to be discharged from the deficient warrant and then rearrested on the newly issued warrant.
“The subject has not been produced at court and there is the potential for him to be released from the prison as the discharge must be dealt with regardless. There are arrangements in place to secure his rearrest on the new EAW if and when he is released from prison.”
The district judge, along with Kupiec’s British fiancee, Jenny Stickley, who attended the hearing with friends, had to wait more than seven hours while authorities tried to bring him to the court. He had been living in the UK under a different name and it was thought that he may have been listed at the prison under that name.
Reports from Poland say that after a match nine years ago between Korona Kielce and Legia Warsaw in Kielce, south-central Poland, fights broke out in the crowd and a man was killed.
Kupiec was wanted in connection with the violence but disappeared. Police accidentally arrested the wrong Peter Kupiec in London in July last year. He had the same year of birth as the suspected killer, but his month and day of birth were different.
A Subway spokeswoman confirmed that a member of staff had been arrested. She said: “He provided the valid identification and documents required to gain employment at the time he was hired. As this is now being investigated by the police, we are unable to comment further.”
Reports in Poland allege that Kupiec was part of a gang called Infra Red that had been investigated in a major police operation.
There are currently more than 300 men and women on Interpol’s list of wanted people.
Kupiec is now expected to appear at Westminster magistrates court on Thursday.
