Swansea man on run for 15 years for alleged child sex offences arrested in South Africa.

Lee Tucker has been detained in Cape Town

A SWANSEA man wanted by police over alleged child sex offences has been arrested in South Africa after 15 years on the run, according to reports.

Helicopter pilot Lee Tucker was detained in the Cape Town suburb of Green Point and is set to appear in court as part of the extradition process.

The 52-year-old, who was in South Africa working in IT and as a helicopter pilot instructor, is suspected of being part of a paedophile ring detected in 1998 in the Bristol area.

He fled in 2000 while on remand and was later handed an eight-year jail sentence in his absence for sexual abuse of boys under 16.

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The conviction was later overturned before a retrial was ordered.

Tucker, who has family in the Ammanford area, is due to appear in court in South Africa today.

According to the Sun, neighbours living near the home where he was arrested by South African police were shocked when told of his background.

A statement from Avon and Somerset Police said: "A 52-year-old former Bristol man has been arrested by the South African Police Service in Cape Town on our behalf. The man is wanted by Avon and Somerset Police in connection with non-recent sex offences committed in the South Wales area. The offences are alleged to have occurred in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

"We have been working closely with the National Crime Agency, Interpol, the Crown Prosecution Service and the South African Police Service on this case."



By South Wales Evening Post.
Culled from South Wales Evening Post.