Irishman agrees to Dutch extradition over killing and dismemberment of known criminal
An Irish man has agreed to be extradited to the Netherlands where he is appealing his convictions relating to the killing of a known criminal whose body was chopped up and dumped in a canal.
Detective Garda Eoin Kane told Caroline Cummings BL for the State that he arrested Kenneth Brunell, formerly of Palmerstown in Dublin, today on foot of a European Arrest Warrant issued by the Office of Public Prosecutions in the Netherlands.
Ms Cummings told Justice Paul Coffey at the High Court that Brunell was found guilty by an appeals court in the Netherlands of participation as an accessory in committing manslaughter and concealing the corpse of 29-year-old Keith Ennis from Walkinstown. Mr Ennis was stabbed to death and his body was chopped up and dumped in a canal on the northern outskirts of Amsterdam in 2009.
Outlining the history of the case Ms Cummings said that Brunell was previously found not guilty of manslaughter but guilty of concealing Mr Ennis's corpse by a Dutch court. The appeal court in Amsterdam overturned the acquittal last May and upheld the conviction for concealing the body.
The court then sentenced him in his absence to 13 years' imprisonment and the Dutch authorities issued a European Arrest Warrant for Brunell in July of last year. Ms Cummings further told Justice Coffey that lawyers acting for Brunell have since appealed his conviction and he is therefore wanted in the Netherlands for detention as he awaits that appeal.
Brunell told Kieran Kelly BL, acting on his behalf, that he consents to the extradition. Justice Coffey endorsed the warrant and ordered Mr Brunell's surrender to the Dutch authorities.
