Guilty as much of taking the proverbial as skipping bail, sunbathing ex-con James Waston's delight in taunting the British authorities was short lived.
Watson, on bail in the cold case inquiry into the horrific abuse and murder of six-year-old Rikki Neave in 1994, sneaked out of the UK and headed for Portugal, bored with his Northamptonshire bail hostel and having regularly to report to local police.
The Neave case was re-opened in 2015 and in April 2016 police arrested the James Watson who initially was bailed to June 15th. Without a passport, Watson managed to skip the UK by hiding in a motorhome and crossing the channel on a ferry before travelling to Portugal.
Posting pictures of himself sunbathing and enjoying himself in the Algarve, an European Arrest Warrant was swiftly issued and Watson been picked up in Lisbon where he is being held by Portuguese police.
Cambridgeshire police said an un-named suspect was arrested in Lisbon by Portuguese police and will remain in custody while extradition proceedings begin.
“He has been arrested under a European Arrest Warrant on suspicion of breaching his licence,” the UK police said and officers from the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire major crime unit are expected to travel to Lisbon in the coming days to handle the legal and deportation arrangements.
Rikki Neave’s mother, Ruth, was labelled ‘Britain’s most evil mother’ by the gutter press when she faced trial for Rikki’s death. Ruth Neave was cleared of murder but jailed for seven years on child cruelty charges.
When the murder inquiry was relaunched, Detective Superintendent Paul Fullwood, head of the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire major crime unit, said there had been similar incidents around the time of Rikki’s death, including children being left tied up in woods.
Janes Waston now is 35, hence would have been 13 or 14 at the time of Rikki Neave’s death.
Rikki Neave, murdered at age six
James Waston in the Algarve
