September 2019

Man who sexually assaulted teen arrested after seven years on run

A man who fled the country seven years ago after being convicted of sexually assaulting an underage girl has been arrested in Ibiza.

Arik Amir, 60, has been hiding in Tel Aviv, Israel, after fleeing the country to avoid a four and a half year prison sentence.

He had been found guilty of five counts of sexual assault on the victim, who was under 18, in Leatherhead, Surrey.

All attempts to extradite Amir from Israel had previously failed. However, Surrey Police learned on August 20 that Amir had flown to Malaga and would be leaving Spain in two days time.

They faced a race against time to arrest the fugitive but within hours the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) secured an arrest warrant from Guildford Crown Court.

With help from the National Crime Agency and Spanish authorities, police were then able to detain Amir as he was boarding a flight from Ibiza back to Israel.