Sex offender caught in Spain after six years on the run

A SEX offender from Northampton on the run in Spain for six years has been caught in Barcelona after trying to apply for residency.

Azhar Younas reportedly sexually assaulted a 21-year-old woman in Northampton town centre in 2012 but failed to turn up for sentencing at the crown court in 2013.

According to Northampton Chronicle, he was sentenced to four years in jail in his absence, and after fleeing, became subject to a European arrest warrant.

Younas spent six years sunning himself in Barcelona, posting regular beach selfies on Facebook, and working in a supermarket in the city’s commercial capital Mataro.

But police reportedly caught up with him in Spain after he applied for residency and officers discovered he was the subject of a European arrest warrant.

He was deported and appeared at Northampton Crown Court yesterday (Friday, August 2) where he was formally sentenced to four years in jail for the original offence.

His Honour Judge Mayo also sentenced him to an extra four weeks for his ‘deliberate attempt to evade justice’.

Mitigating for Younas, Ian Vesey, said it was a case of a man who panicked, adding that it was Younas himself who told authorities in Spain he believed he was wanted.

Younas was placed on the sex offenders’ register indefinitely and was banned from working with children for life.