A French sect leader wanted by France will be extradited after the Constitutional Court this morning threw out his case in which he claimed breaches of human rights in the way he and his partner had been treated by the police, in prison and by the courts.

In a 57-page judgement, Mr Justice Tonio Mallia ruled that Mr Alain Schmitt’s detention was justified.

His arrest warrant was also valid and the extradition proceedings were considered valid and regular.

As the lawfulness of the extradition had been established, his detention was valid, Mr Justice Mallia said.

Both Mr Schmitt, 49 and his Belgian partner Laurence Liegeios are wanted by the French authorities to serve prison terms after being convicted for kidnapping and extortion. They were arrested in January and after the Magistrate's Court ordered their extradition, they appealed the decision and lost.

They then filed a Constitutional case claiming breaches of human rights.

But Ms Liegeios, 47, left Malta after withdrawing her case saying she was missing her eight-year-old son Quinten, who had been in Malta but was then sent to live with his grandparents in France after she was detained.

In France, she is serving a 15-month term out of prison, wearing an electronic tag so she can be monitored by the authorities.

Mr Schmitt, who is nearly blind, stayed on to fight the case.