In a recent session of the Divisional Court, the Lord Chief Justice and Justices Darling and A. T. Lawrence found themselves entangled in a legal drama surrounding a rule nisi for habeas corpus granted ex parte in the case of the Crown versus the Governor of Brixton Prison. This rule demanded an explanation as to why an extradition order for E. Guerin, a convict under French law serving a life sentence on an “island,” should not be set aside. Intriguingly, the focus of the legal debate rested on Guerin’s purported connections to Limerick and his status as a British subject.

Guerin, born in Hoxton, London, staunchly asserted his British nationality, arguing that this shielded him from the clutches of extradition. The Attorney-General, representing the Crown, revealed that fresh evidence from Chicago was under scrutiny to establish both Guerin’s British nationality and the fact that his father, born in Limerick in 1821, had never undergone naturalization as a United States citizen.

Mr Muir, acting as counsel for the accused, unfolded a narrative linking Guerin’s family to Limerick. According to Muir, Guerin’s father, after being born in Limerick, made his way to Chicago in 1848, where he tied the knot. The accused’s life story suggested that the family returned to London, where Guerin was born, only to migrate back to Chicago in 1867. The father’s passing in 1875 saw him laid to rest in Calvary Cemetery, while the mother joined him in 1897, buried in the same Chicago resting place.

Despite the stain on his family’s reputation and two convictions, Guerin aimed to present a reformed character. Arrested in France in May 1901 for a bank robbery in Paris, he was convicted on June 14, 1902, and sentenced to life imprisonment on “Devil’s Island.” His escape in 1904 or 1905 led to a new life in Leeds, where he worked as a tailor and sought to bury his criminal past. However, the long arm of the law caught up with him in London, triggering a legal quagmire with intriguing ties to Limerick.

The court, after careful deliberation, acknowledged Guerin’s connection to Limerick through his father and deemed him worthy of recognition as a British subject. Consequently, the Extradition Act was considered inapplicable to his case. With the rule made absolute, the prisoner found himself discharged, bringing an end to a legal saga that prominently featured the intriguing Limerick connection in the escape from “Devil’s Island.”

Westminster Gazette – Friday 14 June 1907