Written question asked by Lord Goodhart (Liberal Democrat), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Baroness Royall of Blaisdon (Labour) on Thursday, 24 November 2005.

Prisoners: Foreign Jurisdictions

Question: What efforts they have made to obtain the release of Steven Toplass from prison in Spain following his conviction in July 2004 for being involved in the transportation of drugs.

Answer: When doubts about the validity of Mr Toplass’ conviction were raised, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) officials met the National Crime Squad to discuss Mr Toplass’ case.We were told that the Crown Prosecutor had written to Mr Toplass saying that there was no evidential basis for prosecuting him as a party to the conspiracy. The letter was also submitted to the judge in Spain. The judge asked for a translation of the letter and for it to be legalised. The Government provided Mr Toplass’ lawyer with a legalised translation. The judge refused to acknowledge the document when it was presented to him.Soon after, my honourable friend the Minister for Europe at the FCO (Douglas Alexander) met the Member for Stoke-On-Trent South (Robert Flello) and the Director of Fair Trials Abroad to discuss further options.Our understanding is that the Spanish legal system operates on a basis of reasonable liability. This would lead to criminal liability where the court finds reason to believe that the subject might have some prior knowledge/suspicion of contents. Each case is heard on merit.

Secondary information