Convicted Brit rapist ‘living in a van’ arrested by police in Spain

SPANISH police have arrested a wanted British man, convicted of five rapes in the UK, who was found living in a van and using a fake identity.

The un-named wanted man was convicted of five rape charges on two victims in the 1980s – including one on a 15-year-old girl and he faces a life sentence.

The British authorities issued a European Arrest Warrant in 2016 and last July officers in Spain were tipped off that was living somewhere on country’s eastern coast last year.

Spanish police said the man was arrested in Alicante on the Costa Blanca after he had used a fake identity to contact his relatives in the UK on social media.

They said, “That enabled investigators to follow his digital trail until they tracked down where he was hiding.

“Investigators found that he was a person who moved about in a van he lived in, which made finding him more difficult as he didn’t leave any physical trace of his movements.

“But, after nine months of investigations, the van he used as a home was tracked down and the rapist arrested after a watch was put on the vehicle.’

The man will now appear before an extradition hearing in Madrid.