Two cousins could be extradited to Cyprus within days to serve three years in jail.

Luke Atkinson and Michael Binnington will meet with their lawyers today but they have been told the UK Supreme Court will not grant them permission to appeal against deportation.

Their solicitor Karen Todner is waiting to hear from the Home Secretary, Alan Johnson.

Yesterday she faxed him to ask if he would allow Mr Atkinson and Mr Binnington to serve their sentences in the UK, a right afforded to all Cypriot citizens, but not a protection British citizens enjoy.

The news has been described as “retribution not justice” by Essex MEP Richard Howitt, who, since day one, has backed both families in a campaign for justice.

Mr Atkinson, of Witham, and Mr Binington, formerly of the Witham area, were back seat passengers in a car which killed a Cypriot moped rider on the island in 2006.

They were originally acquitted of manslaughter, but the decision was overturned in January last year, after the Attorney General of Cyprus appealed.

The pair were sentenced in their absence in April 2008 to three years imprisonment for culpable manslaughter and one year for grievous bodily harm, to run concurrently.

They have been fighting extradition since and have failed at all levels of the British judicial system.

For the full story see the Witham and Braintree Times.