A British national who lived in St Julian’s has been remanded in custody pending further extradition proceedings following a European arrest warrant by the Italian authorities.

The court heard this morning that a warrant was issued against Richard Alistair Cranston following a judgement jailing him for three years for drug trafficking.

Defence lawyer Veronique Dalli told the court that her client served a year of this judgement and was let out on condition that he lived nearby.

However, once he filed an appeal, his passport was given back to him and he came to Malta. The Italian authorities were fully aware of where he was, she said.

But Donatella Frendo Dimech, from the Attorney General’s Office, said that this was not the case and that a European wide alert had been issued by the authorities in April 2009.