US Edition 
Ian Norris in new battle to stay in Britain
Ian Norris, former chief executive of Morgan Crucible, could end his days in a US if extradited and convicted on charges of obstructing the course of justice, the High Court was told on Thursday.
The dramatic claim was made at the start of an attempt by Mr Norris, 66, who retired from the engineering group in 2002 after battling prostrate cancer, to resist a second attempt by the government to extradite him to the US.
Last year the House of Lords blocked his removal to the US to face charges that alleged he was involved in a price fixing cartel covering carbon parts. The law lords ruled that the offence was not a crime in Britain at the time the cartel was said to be operating.
Another charge, covering alleged obstruction of justice, was referred back to a lower court where District Judge Nicholas Evans, ruled there was no legal obstacle to extradition and referred the case to Jacqui Smith, Home Secretary, who ordered Mr Norris's extradition in September.
Jonathan Sumption, QC, appearing for Mr Norris yesterday, argued the obstruction case was secondary to the price fixing allegation, and said it would interfere with his human rights as well as those of his wife, Sheila, 65.
He told Lord Justice Laws and Mr Justice Openshaw that it was "completely disproportionate to extradite a sick, retired man aged 66 with a wife suffering from a severe depressive episode to the US to face a subsidiary charge."
Mr Sumption maintained that Mr Norris was confronting the prospect of "a prolonged detention in prison before and after trial, if convicted, likely to take up the final years of his life."
He claimed the Home Secretary had "erred in law" by authorising extradition on the subsidiary charge. Mr Norris could face a stiffer sentence, if convicted, as US laws would allow the courts to take into account the price fixing allegations.