Latvia will send Jeshma suspect back to Britain

A murder suspect who fled the country is to be extradited to Britain in the case of 17-year-old Jeshma Raithatha.

Jeshma was raped and stabbed on 16 May in Sudbury Hill. Her partially clothed body was found in undergrowth eight days later.

Latvian national Viktors Dembovskis, 42, was held under a European arrest warrant in Livani, east of capital Riga.

"The decision has been made to extradite him but this man has 10 days to appeal against the decision," said a spokeswoman for the prosecutor general's office. "We do not know if he plans to appeal." If he does so, it could take a month for a court to make a final ruling.

Dembovskis, who worked in Britain as a car-wash attendant, disappeared from his home, close to where the victim lived, shortly after she was reported missing.

His lawyer earlier said Dembovskis had denied guilt.