Alex Trelinski
A MAN who was on the run from UK authorities for seven years has been arrested by the Guardia Civil in Estepona.
Mark Francis Roberts, 29, allegedly took part in an attack in the Liverpool area on September 30, 2016 in which two people armed with a knife approached a man who had just parked in front of his house, after midnight.
The victim resisted surrendering his £60,000 Richard Mille watch and suffered serious injuries for which he was admitted to intensive care and were close to ending his life, the UK National Crime Agency(NCA) said.
Roberts was detained on Wednesday night after a Guardia Civil surveillance operation following information passed onto them by the NCA.
He has been transferred to the custody of the National Court in Madrid which will be handling the UK’s extradition application.
His last known British address was in Fairfield near Liverpool.
Roberts’s name was published on a UK Most Wanted list in February which targeted fugitives who might be living in Spain.
Steve Reynolds, NCA regional manager in Spain, said: “Roberts’s arrest came about after a sustained campaign to trace him and some great work by the Guardia Civil.”
“This is another excellent result and shows once again that UK law enforcement does not give up on finding those who await justice in the UK,” he added.
“Working closely with our colleagues at home and abroad, such as our highly valued Spanish partners, we will continue to hunt those on the run,” concluded Reynolds.
READ MORE:
- Most wanted: UK’s most dangerous fugitives hiding out in Spain revealed
- Britain’s most wanted female fugitive who spent nine years hiding out in Spain has her jail sentence doubled
- One of Europe’s ‘most wanted’ criminals arrested at Murcia shopping centre in Spain
