James Warren
A WANTED paedophile has been extradited to the UK after being arrested in the Costa Blanca resort of Benidorm.
Mark Bowen, aged 25, fled to the popular resort to start a new life after being caught with indecent material on his phone.
Bowen, from Caerphilly south Wales, was arrested in the UK in October 2017 after police discovered disturbing footage of a 12-year-old boy being raped on his mobile phone.
After being released from Newport Crown Court on investigation, he fled to Benidorm without ‘any intention of returning to the UK’.
The South Wales Argus reported that his whereabouts were made known to the police and he was picked up by Policia Nacional Officers on April 8 this year.
Bowen would spend three months in a Spanish jail before being flown back to the UK to face trial
The defendant pleaded guilty to having an indecent category A video of a child as well as category C images on his mobile. The court heard that he was of previous good character.
He will now serve a 24-month community order and must complete 29 sessions of the Horizon sex offender programme, along with being placed on the sex offenders register for five years.
