New hope over Keaton Slater suspect's extradition
Attempts are being made to extradite the man police believe mowed down a Coventry schoolboy. Dolars Aleksanders has a £10,000 reward on his head and was understood to be hiding out in his native Latvia.
Police believe the 21-year-old was behind the wheel of a BMW which hit Sky Blues fan Keaton Slater on Radford Road. The 12-year-old died and his heartbroken parents Clint and Louise have been campaigning for justice.
They set-up a petition calling on the government to have Aleksanders extradited from Latvia and it has been signed by thousands of people. The couple told BBC Breakfast this morning, September 11, that Coventry North West MP Taiwo Owatemi had thrown her support behind their campaign, giving them relief from the 'numbness' they felt.
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"Before Friday, we felt numb, but then the MP (Taiwo Owatemi) came round with a colleague and it was just like a little light, it was so positive.," Louise said. "She was talking about helping with road safety and trying to get him (Aleksanders) back from Latvia.
"That just made me feel like 'yes, we have got this' because what has happened to my son shouldn't be acceptable. People will think they can drive at 80mph and get away with it because he hasn't been caught."
Ms Owatemi appeared via Zoom and presenter Jon Kay asked: "I suppose there could be things going on behind the scenes with the police investigation that the family, you, all of us can't be told as it has to happen in privacy. Do you get the impression from your conversations that there might be movement going on in this case?"
She saying: "Keaton's family deserve justice for what has happened and it's absolutely devastating that he (Aleksanders) felt he could run away to Latvia and that's the reason why I have raised the situation with the Home Secretary and the relevant minister and work is being done to get that justice and to bring him (Aleksanders) back to the UK.
"Sadly, the difficulty is that extraditions weren't negotiated as part of the EU Brexit deal, so each country, you have to go back and negotiate with them to ensure criminals are brought back to the UK to face justice and that is what the police are doing."
It has been almost been three months since Keaton's death and the launch of the manhunt to find Aleksanders. Charity Crimestoppers is offering a reward of up to £10,000 for information that leads to his arrest.
The reward is due to expire on Friday, September 20 and people can call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. Police can also be contacted via 101, quoting log 3407 of June 14, or emailing: FL_COLLISION_INVEST@west-midlands.pnn.police.uk.
Anyone who would like to sign the petition can do so on Change.org.
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