Most Wanted rapist arrested in Tenerife after six years on the run

A rapist who had been on the run from British police for more than six years has been arrested in the Canary Islands.

Mohammed Alam, 33, was convicted and jailed for 14 years in his absence in 2010, for a sex attack in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.

Detectives thought he might be in Spain or even his native Bangladesh, after travelling to the UK on a temporary visa in 2007.

He was captured as he ate a meal in a restaurant in Playa de las Americas, in the south of Tenerife.

Steve Reynolds, of the UK's National Crime Agency (NCA), said: "Locating and arresting Alam after he had been on the run for six years is a fantastic result.

"This was a team effort to get justice for his victim and he will now be returned to the UK to serve a 14-year jail term."

Alam, a Bangladeshi national, had been on the Most Wanted list for a year.

His photograph was recirculated last week when a list of new suspects was launched and the public was urged to look at those fugitives still evading arrest over several years.

Detective Sergeant Paul Howell, of Gloucestershire police, said: "We hope this result shows criminals that they will be convicted, even if they try to get away and escape under the radar."

Alam is the 78th fugitive from British justice to be arrested out of 96 identified in a 10-year publicity campaign by the NCA and Crimestoppers.

His extradition process will begin at a court in Madrid on Wednesday, and he could be back in the UK within a fortnight to begin his prison sentence.

Within hours of last week's launch of the new 10 Most Wanted fugitives Sky News helped Spanish police arrest one, suspected paedophile Matthew Sammon.

Sammon, 45, is wanted in London on suspicion of downloading indecent images of children, and is also awaiting extradition to the UK.

Lord Ashcroft KCMG, founder and chairman of Crimestoppers, said: "To have secured a second arrest in the space of a few days, following last week's appeal and arrest of Matthew Sammon, is a tremendous result."