Jon Clarke (Publisher & Editor)By Wendy Williams
ANOTHER of Britain’s most wanted has been captured in Spain.
Alleged drug dealer, David Anthony Stuart, nicknamed ‘Catman’, was arrested on Tuesday in Barcelona, more than five years after he fled the country.
According to the Crimestoppers website it is believed he had been using the name of John among other aliases and was thought to be working here as a funeral director.
Police had begun hunting for the 35 year old fugitive from Accrington after he failed to attend his trial at Preston Crown Court in June 2005.
Stuart had originally been arrested in July 2004 for the possession of 20,000 ecstasy tablets.
And was subsequently charged with two offences; conspiracy to supply, and possession with intent to supply a Class A drug, which earned him a place on the most wanted list.
He now becomes the 36th person to be arrested from an original list of 50 included in Operación Captura led by the Serious Organised Crime Agency and Crimestoppers.
Director General of SOCA, Trevor Pearce, welcomed the arrest as “another excellent result for our partnership with Spain”.
He said: “It would seem that plenty of British fugitives and criminals still haven’t worked out that basing themselves in Spain is not a particularly smart move.
“We won’t stop coming after them – and the Spanish Police are more than happy to arrest them and get them sent back to the UK.”
MDMA (Ecstasy) has never directly caused a single human fatality. Much as I don’t like the stuff, placing this man on the most wanted list seems very heavy handed.