September 2015: Nantlle in Gwynedd, Wales

October 2009

York paedophile begins prison sentence

A PAEDOPHILE who fled the country before his trial has been told he will serve nearly seven years in prison after being brought before a York judge two-and-a-half years after he went on the run.

Stephen John Burnell, 56, evaded the police for 31 months while he worked in a taverna on the Greek island of Crete, despite being named as one of the UK’s five most wanted sex offenders.

In 2007, he was convicted and sentenced in his absence to six years behind bars for a series of sexual offences against a nine-year-old girl, including attempted rape, indecent assault and taking indecent photographs of a child.

Burnell, who committed his offences while living in the South Bank area of York, finally began that prison sentence after being brought back to York Crown Court following his arrest in Crete earlier this month.

Appearing in the dock, Burnell wore a casual grey sweater and looked tanned, with blonde shoulder-length hair and a beard.

He hesitated before pleading guilty to the offence of failing to surrender to custody on the day his trial was due to begin in February 2007.

His defence barrister, Helen Hendry, said Burnell made the decision not to attend his trial because of the “enormous stress and pressure that he felt under in the run up to the trial”.

She said Burnell fled the country shortly before his trial, travelling first to Amsterdam from Liverpool and then on to the island of Crete, where she said he has been working in a taverna.

The court heard how the authorities finally caught up with the defendant when he was arrested in Crete following “a dispute”, and was extradited back to England.

Sentencing Burnell to an extra 11 months in jail for his failure to surrender to bail, the Recorder of York, Judge Stephen Ashurst, said this was “a bad case of its type”.

He told the defendant: “You failed to attend because you feared the consequences and you did so in the knowledge that (the victim) was telling the truth and her allegations would be proved in court. That was your decision.

“The court has given you every opportunity to attend at your trial and deal with the consequences of the allegations made against you.

“You chose to ignore that and go your own way.”

Burnell asked if he could “have his say” before being taken to the cells, but Judge Ashurst refused his request.