Paedophile Warwick Spinks Traced By Ceops

A paedophile who had been on the run for 15 years has been found in the Czech Republic.

Warwick Spinks was arrested at Heathrow Airport on Thursday after he was tracked down by officers from the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (Ceop).

The 48-year-old was convicted in 1995 of a series of sexual offences against boys, including serious sexual assault at knifepoint, taking a child without lawful authority and taking indecent images of children.

He was jailed for seven years but this was reduced to a five-year term on appeal.

Spinks went missing in 1997 while released on licence and fled the UK.

He used various aliases while on the run, including Willem Van Wijk and William Spinks.

Ceop chief executive Peter Davies said: "Ceop officers, in conjunction with officers at the Metropolitan Police Service and Soca (Serious Organised Crime Agency), have worked tirelessly over a number of years to locate and trace a high-risk child sexual offender, who believed he could avoid being managed in the UK by travelling overseas.

"I hope this arrest sends a clear message to other missing child sexual offenders that however far you travel to avoid facing the consequences of your actions, we will track you down and bring you to justice."

Spinks now faces serving the remaining 18 months of his sentence.