Hi °C | Lo °C A German man jailed over a major drugs smuggling plot has launched a legal challenge over being detained for up to five days after he was due to be deported.
Hans Ulrich Reuter had served a 10-year sentence for having more than 13kg of cocaine seized at Belfast International Airport in 2006.
The 65-year-old is expected to seek damages as part of his judicial review case for the failure to take him from Magilligan Prison to the airport on June 20 after a firm contracted by UK Borders Agency failed to turn up.
Reuter, who claims he was the victim of false imprisonment, was instead taken to a detention centre in Scotland. He was deported from London on June 25.
His barrister told the High Court: "This set of circumstances arose from what the respondent admits was a mistake on the part of the organisation contracted to carry out this practical function."
Mr Justice Treacy is expected to deliver his decision today.
