Five men lost a High Court battle today to block extradition to Greece where they are accused of a savage attack on a footballer outside a Crete nightclub.
Lawyers for the five said they were innocent and potentially faced detention in terrible conditions in a Greek jail, without charge, for many months.
But two judges ruled the evidence of them possibly suffering inhuman and degrading treatment "fell a long way short" of establishing a bar to extradition.
The men, all in their early 20s, are suspected of stabbing Robert Hughes, also British, with a broken bottle before stamping on his head in an incident in the resort of Malia in June 2008.
Mr Hughes, who has played football for Oxford United, was left in a coma for two months as he underwent three brain operations to save his life.
He has now recovered to the extent that he is again playing football.
The five suspects - Curtis Taylor, Daniel Bell, and Sean Branton, all from Horley, Surrey; George Hollands, from Reigate, Surrey; and Benjamin Herdman, from Worth, West Sussex - deny involvement in the attack.
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