Marisa Merico, 40, served 14 months of a 42 month sentence in the late 1990s and returned to the UK shortly after. But Italy wants her to serve more time in Milan after appealing her release.
Her father is Mafia Don Emilio DiGiovine, who was jailed for 30 years in the early 90s. He is now under a witness protection scheme in his homeland after he allegedly gave evidence about the Mafia in exchange for leniency.Since then he has been the target of assassination, and Ms Merico says she cannot return to Milan because her life would be at risk from her gangster dad's enemies.
And were she to be forcibly returned, her two children – one the daughter of another Mafia chief – would be left to fend for themselves, with the son taken into care, she said.In the first day of her extradition hearing at City of Westminster Magistrate's Court, Ms Merico, who lives in Blackpool and has penned an autobiography called 'Mafia Princess', added that there would be no one to look after her cancer-stricken mother if she was extradited.
She said: "After the mistakes I made when I was a young girl of about 18 I wanted to wipe the slate clean and start a new life.
"That's why I came back to the UK. I did things I regret and my involvement with my family, especially my father.
"My mother is very ill and fragile. She has bone cancer and never recovered from a stroke she had a few years ago.
"I am her main carer and there isn't really anyone else to look after her. She needs help with everything."
She added, while crying: "I have to see her every day."
When asked if her ex-husband, Mafia boss Bruno Merico, is involved in the upbringing of her children, she replied: "No."
She continued: "My daughter doesn't even know her dad. He's been in prison since she was about one.
"He is released now but he is not really involved in her upbringing. My son's father died when I was three months pregnant so if I have to go back to Italy my daughter would have to look after my son – or he would be put into foster care.
"It's a big responsibility for her as she is only 18 and has just been offered a place in university. It would have a major impact on her life."
Merico also said her nine year old son suffered from emotional problems because of her arrest warrant and that he was 'below average' at school.
She added: "We are not a close knit family and my mother isn't capable of looking after the children."
The hearing was adjourned until May.
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