Ian Norris, the former chief executive of Morgan Crucible, is facing extradition to the US on charges of obstruction of justice.

Today's development follows Mr Norris's recent victory at the House of Lords which said separate charges of price-fixing did not warrant his being handed over to American authorities.

A judge at City of Westminster Magistrates Court said this morning that the obstruction of justice charges against Mr Norris were of “such gravity” that it was appropriate for him to be sent to the US to stand trial.

As with all extradition cases, Mr Norris’ file will be passed to the Home Secretary, who must approve the request.

Mr Norris, who suffers from prostate cancer, is expected to make representations to the Home Secretary detailing why extradition would breach his human rights.

As former chief executive of Morgan Crucible, the engineering company, he is accused of participating in a secret cartel to fix the price of carbon products used in American trains between 1989 and 1990.

The US Department of Justice, which brought the charges, also claims that Mr Norris deliberately blocked its investigation by shredding crucial evidence relating to the alleged cartel.

Mr Norris has denied any wrongdoing.

His lawyer, Alistair Graham, a partner at White & Case, said: "Naturally, we are disappointed at today's judgment. We will be taking up our right to make submissions to the Secretary of State explaining why Ian should not be extradited and will wait for her decision in due course.

"If necessary, we will of course exercise all rights of appeal: we remain determined to fight for Ian's rights and will take this matter as far as we need to, whether that is in the UK or European courts."

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