An ex-West Ham footballer is facing extradition to Japan over a £680,000 robbery at a luxury jewellery store in Tokyo.
Kaine Wright is accused alongside Joe Chappell of stealing 46 pieces of jewellery worth 106,272,000 yen, approximately £679,000, after posing as customers to gain entry to the shop in Tokyo in 2015.
In 2022, a judge refused to allow the pair to be extradited and discharged them, finding that there was no case to answer against Mr Chappell, and there was a risk both men would be subjected to "ill-treatment" while detained.
The Government of Japan appealed against the decision, telling hearings in October last year and January this year that it had offered "comprehensive and thorough" assurances on the pair's treatment.
In a ruling on Wednesday, Lord Justice Lewis and Mr Justice Johnson overturned the decision, setting up the possibility of extradition.
It is said a security guard was attacked during the robbery, and both Wright and Chappell left Japan two days after the incident. Japanese authorities have been fighting for their extradition since March 2018.
Wright was on the books at West Ham as a youth player before leaving to ply his trade in the MLS in the US.
In the judgment, Lord Justice Lewis said that there was a "prima facie case" against Mr Chappell, and assurances given by Japan were "sufficient" to guarantee that the two accused men "would not face a real risk of ill-treatment".
The judge said that no extradition treaty exists between the UK and Japan, but the two nations negotiated a "memorandum of cooperation" in 2021, following requests for the men to be sent to the east Asian country in 2018.
In the magistrates court, Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring found that there was no case to answer for Mr Chappell, and ordered his discharge.
He also found that assurances given by Japan did not "remove the risk by reason of material conditions; deliberate ill-treatment; inadequate food; inadequate medical care; and the oppressive regime generally" for both men, and later ordered Mr Wright's discharge.
Lord Justice Lewis said that the men could be held for 23 days inside a Japanese detention centre if they were extradited as they were questioned over the alleged crimes, and if convicted and sentenced would be required to carry out 40 hours a week of labour.
But Ben Keith, for the Japanese government, told a hearing in London in October that while the Japanese judicial process was "completely different" to that of the UK, Japan could be "trusted to comply" with the assurances offered, including that the men could ask for legal representation while in detention.
Mark Summers KC, for Mr Chappell, said in written submissions that "the international community has expressed its concern" about the detention system in Japan for more than three decades.
Edward Fitzgerald KC, for Mr Wright, told the court that as there was no extradition treaty between the UK and Japan, there was "no history of proven respect for assurances".
He added that since starting proceedings against the men, "Japan remains unable to tell the UK courts where the respondents will in fact be detained by the police, or where they will be held in pretrial detention".
The cases are now due to be sent back to Westminster magistrates court for a decision to be made on whether the pair's cases should be referred to the Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper.
If a judge rules the cases should be referred, Ms Cooper has two months to order the pair's extradition.
But the pair could take their cases to the Supreme Court if they are given the green light to challenge the latest decision.
