Chef is home after family finds £5k bail
A CHEF facing extradition to Italy on murder charges has been reunited with his family after a relative stumped up bail.
Edmond Arapi was arrested in connection with a killing in October 2004, as he returned to Gatwick Airport following a family holiday.
He has now been allowed home, but electronically tagged and subject to a midnight to 6am curfew.
He returned to a joyful reunion at Stoke Railway Station with his wife Georgina and children Maria, aged six, and Sarinam, aged two.
His wife's aunt, Carolyn Bailey, an accountant, of Leek, provided the surety of £5,000.
Mr Arapi is due to return to Westminster Magistrates' Court on Monday for further extradition proceedings.
Mrs Arapi, a 26-year-old former Westwood College student, of Langford Street, Leek, said her husband had been put through an horrendous ordeal at Wandsworth Prison and had lost weight.
She said: "He came home at about 5pm on Monday night. The children were absolutely ecstatic to see him and flew into his arms. We spent the night as a family cuddled up on the settee."
She added: "Ed has got to report to Leek police station every day and is under a curfew.
"But he said he was prepared to do anything as a condition of bail providing he could see his family again.
"He had a terrible time in prison. They treat all the prisoners the same whether they have been convicted or not. They did not even tell him how he was supposed to get home."
Mr Arapi, a 29-year-old Albanian, said: "It has been absolutely devastating, but I have got to put a brave face on for my wife and children. If I had only one last breath in my body, I would tell them that I have not committed any crime anywhere or at any time in my life.
"I am not happy about being tagged, but have had to accept the conditions, otherwise I would not be able to see my wife and family. I am hoping to go back to work, but first I want to clear my name."
Mr Arapi, who has lived in Leek for nine years and works at the Travellers' Rest pub in Leekbrook, says he was in the UK when the Italian authorities allege he committed the murder.
Last week his solicitor presented evidence to the court claiming he was living in Leek and working at the former Cafe Davide, in Getliffe's Yard, Leek, on the day of the killing.
His wife and former employer will attend the next hearing on Monday to give evidence they say confirms his alibi.
Mr Arapi was arrested on Tuesday, June 16 in front of his wife and children as they returned from a holiday in Albania.
Mrs Arapi added: "Ed knows very little about what he has been accused of. All he knows that this murder was apparently in Genova in Italy and it was an Italian man. That's all we know about the actual crime."
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