by Lauren Fruen

Relieved Graham Mitchell will not face extradition to Portugal for a crime he was cleared of 17 years ago – but says he will be left looking over his shoulder for the rest of his life.

The photographer, 49, was speaking after it emerged Portugese police had dropped an extradition request which could have seen him face a retrial for attempted murder.

Mr Mitchell was acquitted of the charge in 1995 but was arrested in March this year at his home in St Martin’s Road after Portugese authorities issued a European Arrest Warrant.

But despite his relief this week the former Scots Guardsman says he will now be left looking over his shoulder for the rest of his life.

Mr Mitchell, who lives with his wife Laura and his two children in the city, said: “It is good to have it off my shoulders but I still cannot make sense of it. The whole thing is just a mess.

“The police turned up at my door and my wife invited them in. I had no idea that it would be to do with this.

“We had information coming through last Wednesday that it may be withdrawn, but you just can’t trust the Portuguese authorities. On the Thursday morning we got the clarification it had been dropped.

“I will be looking over my shoulder for the rest of my life. It has been terrible. Both my kids are in the middle of their exams but I have been really proud of the way they have dealt with this.

“The kids did not know about it so it all came as a massive shock to them. Now whenever there is a police car on the road the kids look out worried.

“The whole thing has been so painful and I have tried not to revisit it. After the initial arrest I suffered from post traumatic stress disorder and since then I have built up resilience to it. This has taken me back to square one.”

Portuguese police removed their extradition request due to the amount of time that has passed.

Mr Mitchell’s nightmare began when he and his friend Warren Tozer went on a fishing holiday to Albufeira, in the Algarve, in May 1994.

The pair were arrested for an alleged assault on a 26-year-old German tourist called Andre Jorling, who was paralysed from the waist down after falling from a wall.

They spent more than a year in custody until they were cleared at trial of attempting to murder Mr Jorling.