A Plymouth landlord who went on the run after he sexually assaulted two vulnerable teenage tenants has been arrested in Turkey.
Alfred Palmer, 52, owner of letting agency Palmer and Co, was first arrested in 2005 for a number of sexual offences dating back to the mid 1980s.
In 2006 he fled abroad with partner Daniel Tapper, 53.
Palmer was jailed for five years and Tapper, a director of the agency, for three years, in their absence in 2007.
The arrests follow an appeal on the BBC’s Crimewatch programme which led to sightings of the pair in Turkey.
Sold houses
Palmer will now appear in court in Turkey to face an extradition ordering bringing him back to the UK to start his jail sentence.
The first trial in 2006 heard how Palmer abused two teenage boys just out of social services care.
Palmer even threw one out of his flat and threatened to have him beaten up after he repeatedly refused Palmer’s sexual advances.
The trial was halted when police admitted both men had “left the force area to evade arrest and prosecution”.
At the trial in the absence of the pair in 2007, Palmer was convicted of four counts of indecent assault and Tapper of one indecent assault.
In February 2009 an appeal on Crimewatch led to sightings of the pair among the expat community in Turkey.
Investigators found the pair had taken £300,000 with them after selling two houses and their cars.
An arrest warrant was issued in September 2009.
Investigating officer Det Con Sarah Lovatt told BBC News she was “thrilled” at the arrest of Palmer by Turkish police and predicted that the arrest of Tapper was “only a matter of time”.
She said: “It will bring closure to the victims.
“They are still struggling with what happened to them all those years ago.”
BBC
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