A convicted killer and a rapist are among 10 of Britain’s most wanted fugitives who are believed to be on the run in Spain.
The list has been published as part of Operation Captura, a scheme to trace wanted criminals and suspects who are thought to have fled to Spain.
The 10 men are wanted in connection with crimes including rape, indecent assault of a child and drug trafficking, the National Crime Agency (NCA) said.
One of the fugitives is ex-soldier Shane Walford who was jailed in 2010 for the manslaughter of an off-duty fireman while on leave from the Army.
Walford, a former boxer, killed father-of-two Paul Gibbons with a single punch outside a bar in Coventry.
He was jailed for four and a half years but was recalled to prison in August 2013 after breaking the terms of his licence.
Another of the fugitives is Mohammed Jahangir Alam, 32, who was sentenced to 14 years in his absence in March 2010 for rape and sexual assault by penetration.
Alam, who is originally from Bangladesh, arrived in the UK on a temporary visa in October 2007 and moved to Cheltenham the following year, when he physically and sexually abused his victim, the NCA said.
Also on the wanted list is 52-year-old Carlo Dawson, from Croydon, south London, who is accused of indecently assaulting a 12-year-old girl and making indecent photographs of a child.
An operation was launched last week to arrest one of the fugitives, suspected drugs trafficker Jayson McDonald, who is believed to have been living in Spain.
More than a dozen armed officers along with detectives from the Metropolitan Police carried out a dawn raid on a luxury villa in Coin near Malaga but McDonald was not found.
It is the ninth appeal of its kind since Captura was launched by the NCA and Crimestoppers in 2006, and so far 65 out of 76 named suspects have been caught.
One of the latest to be found in Tenerife was “drugs lord” Stephen Blundell, 36, from Merseyside, who fled the UK before being sentenced for a £1 million heroin plot, the NCA said.
Hank Cole, the NCA’s head of international operations, said: “Spain is not a safe haven for British fugitives. The NCA and its partners will continue to pursue these individuals relentlessly and return them to the UK to face justice.
“The exceptional level of collaboration and intelligence sharing with the Spanish authorities has been vital to these arrests. However, we still need the support of the public.
“Be our eyes and ears and tell us if you have any information on the whereabouts of our targets.”
Lord Ashcroft, founder of Crimestoppers, said: “Operation Captura has proved a huge success since it was launched in 2006 and the majority of individuals on our most wanted list have been captured.
“However, there are still a number of criminals who are evading arrest. We must ensure these individuals are brought to justice. We are confident that we can successfully hunt them down with support from the Spanish authorities, as well as the Spanish and UK public.”
Anyone with information on the whereabouts of the fugitives is asked to call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or go online at www.crimestoppers-uk.org.