Irish woman extradited from SA to face double murder charges in home country

Ruth Lawrence was extradited back to Ireland on Wednesday evening, 24 May 2023, to face charges related to a double murder.

The Irish fugitive was apprehended in Bloemfontein last year. The extradition process comes after years of pursuit and collaboration between the Irish National Police, Garda Siochana, the South African Police Service (Saps), Interpol’s National Central Bureau in Pretoria, the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigations (Hawks) and Crime Intelligence.

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According to Saps, Ruth Lawrence and her former fiancé, Neville van der Westhuizen, had been sought by Irish authorities in connection with a double murder that occurred in Ireland in 2014.

National head of communications at Saps, Major General Mathapelo Peters, said while Van der Westhuizen is currently serving a prison sentence for another murder committed in KwaZulu-Natal, his arrest on the extradition request for the Irish double murder is pending in the Durban Magistrate’s Court.

International law enforcement collaboration

“The successful tracing and extradition of Lawrence marks a significant achievement in international law enforcement collaboration,” Peters said.

He explained that earlier this week, members of the Irish National Police arrived in South Africa to help South African authorities bring Lawrence to justice.

On Wednesday, Lawrence was escorted from Bloemfontein to Pretoria before being handed over to the Irish police. She will now be transported back to Ireland to face the charges of murder.

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Peters said that the Interpol NCB in Pretoria, in the past five years, has arrested more than 60 fugitives wanted on extradition requests and Interpol Red Notices.

Out of the 60 fugitives arrested, 42 have been successfully extradited. He said there are another 27 extradition requests currently under review by South African courts.

“Interpol NCB Pretoria has also successfully managed to trace and arrange for the apprehension of 11 wanted fugitives that have since been extradited back to South Africa to stand trial,” he said.