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17 - 23 May 2018 / Axarquía - Costa Tropical
NEWS EXTRA Just the ticket? BUDGET airline Ryanair has announced that from June 13 passengers will only have a 48-hour window - closing two hours before departure - to check in unless they have paid for a seat, with those missing it charged €60.
Cat call CATALUÑA’S Parliament has narrowly elected separatist Quim Torra, 55, as president, with the new leader vowing to continue the battle for independence after Madrid confirmed it will lift its direct rule imposed after last year’s illegal referendum.
Sick ritual A FATHER from Barcelona faces prison after being accused of raping his 15-yearold daughter and two of her friends in order to rid them of evil spirits.
By Matt Ford A BRITISH man on the run for armed robbery and known to have at least 75 false identities has been held on the Costa del Sol. The still-unnamed suspect was detained in glamorous Marbella on a European Arrest Warrant after being stopped by a Spanish National Police patrol just after 2am. And when he handed over his fake identification it became clear he was being hunted by UK investigators after being accused of raiding a series of armoured vehicles using illegal weapons and explosives. He was cuffed and charged with presenting false documents on the spot but reportedly offered the officers €500 to let him go, resulting in an additional bribery rap. A judge in Madrid ruled via video link that he be remanded in custody ahead of extradition proceedings. It comes after one of Britain’s most-wanted criminals - 41-yearold Stephen Lawrence murder suspect Jamie Acourt - was last week held in Barcelona on drug trafficking charges. He had allegedly changed his name after going on the run and is
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Brit suspect held Fugitive had ’75 identities’ but others remain at large
Photo credit Policia Nacional/Crimestoppers/Shutterstock
GOT HIM: The latest suspect was held on a European Arrest Warrant. believed to have spent the last 18 months in Spain, moving between the Catalan capital and the Costa del Sol. A false passport bearing the name Simon Alfonzo was reportedly seized after he tried to pass himself off as an Italian tourist, but he is not challenging his extradition to the UK. He became the 81st fugitive to be caught by Operation Captura, a joint venture between Spanish police, the National Crime Agency (NCA) and Crimestoppers, with the crackdown forcing
MOST WANTED: Anticlockwise from top left, Jonathon Kelly, Mark Acklom, Dominic McInally, Shane O’Brien and Sarah Panitzke. criminals to go to extreme measure to avoid investigators. NCA head of international operations Steve Reynolds told UK media: “Areas like the Costa Blanca and the Costa del Sol are the most popular with British holidaymakers and most of our fugitives. “It’s been known for people to have plastic surgery after faces have been splashed all over the papers and television.” Others believed to be still at large in Spain include Glaswegian Jonathon Kelly, 36, who vanished four years ago after fail-
ing a drug test while on parole for a string of brutal assaults. Serial fraudster Mark Acklom, 44, is wanted for allegedly fleecing a divorcee out of almost €1 million after romancing her while posing as an MI6 agent. Twenty-seven-year-old Dominic McInally from Liverpool is wanted on drugs charges, while Londoner Shane O’Brien, 28, is accused of a 2015 murder. And Sarah Panitzke, 42, from Yorkshire was among the masterminds convicted over a €1.1 billion VAT fraud.