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Brit 'paedo' held on Costa del Sol after Most Wanted appeal

Fiona Govan
Fiona Govan - [email protected]
Brit 'paedo' held on Costa del Sol after Most Wanted appeal

One of Britain's most wanted fugitives was arrested on the Costa Del Sol following a tip-off from an expat just hours after his face appeared on a public appeal.

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Matthew Sammon, aged 45, from London, was arrested on Thursday evening at a fairground site in Fuengirola where he was living in a camper van.

He was wanted on suspicion of making and possessing indecent photographs of children and was one of ten individuals revealed yesterday as part of Operation Captura - a multi-agency campaign led by National Crime Agency and Crimestoppers to locate fugitives on the run in Spain.

He had been on the run since April, 2014 when he skipped bail and fled following his arrest after indecent photographs of children were found on hard drives, computers and USB sticks at his home in Croydon.

Steve Reynolds, Head of International Operations for the NCA, said: "We asked the public to help us find our most wanted fugitives and this early result the same day we launched our campaign shows the system works."

"The Spanish National Police were able to respond quickly to a tip off about Matthew Sammon’s location and he was arrested last night in Fuengirola. As we have always said, Spain is not a safe haven."

Lord Ashcroft KCMG, Founder & Chair of Crimestoppers, commented: "To have seen an arrest made less than 24 hours of the latest Captura appeal simply reinforces what we've said all along - Spain is not the safe haven fugitives think it is.

"I thank the NCA and the Spanish Police for their quick response to the information received, and the public for their continued support of this campaign, which has now seem 77 wanted individuals arrested. That figure, is quite remarkable," he said.

Extradition proceedings are now underway and he will appear at the Spanish National Court in Madrid later today.

Sammon is the 77th fugitive to be arrested out of 96 publicised through Operation Captura.

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