British armed robber arrested on Costa Blanca

A BRITISH fugitive said to be violent and dangerous has been arrested in Calpe, Costa Blanca after a six-year search in both countries.

Andrew Terence Moran, 32, from Salford, near Manchester, was arrested after he and his accomplices held up a Royal Mail Post Office security van carrying the day’s takings from a well-known UK supermarket at gunpoint, beating the driver over the head with iron bars and making off with about €30,000 in cash.

This was back in 2005, when the accused was aged just 24, and he was arrested in 2007.

Upon his sentencing in February 2009 at Burnley Crown Court, Moran attacked four court security officials, leapt over the dock barriers and fled.

He was known to have escaped to Spain and was on the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA)’s list of Britain’s most-wanted criminals in the country.

Spanish police caught up with him in Los Alcazares (Murcia) in November last year and, during their attempt to catch the escapee, he rammed their two unmarked patrol cars with his 4×4 vehicle and managed to get away again.

On Friday, however, he was traced to a villa in Calpe where he was living with a partner. 60 rounds of ammunition, two handguns and a machete were also found.

He was detained and remains in custody until a decision is made as to whether to extradite him to the UK.