Esti's father awaits sentence

Simon Clayton was found on the Algarve with daughter Esti

A divorced father who sparked an international hunt after abducting his daughter and fleeing the UK is due to be sentenced.

Simon Clayton admitted abducting his four-year-old daughter, Esti, in an earlier hearing at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court.

He is expected to return to the court on Friday to be sentenced.

Mr Clayton, a bookseller from Hay-on-Wye, mid Wales, took Esti out of the UK without consent in April, while she was on a routine visit.

The 41-year-old disappeared days before he and his estranged wife Aneta were due to attend a custody hearing.

International search

Dyfed-Powys Police distributed posters around camp sites in France and Spain appealing for information, while Aneta Clayton made several televised appeals.

Six weeks later and following a Europe-wide search involving Interpol, the pair were eventually found on the Algarve, in Portugal - where Clayton was arrested and imprisoned before extradition to the UK.

He admitted the abduction charge in court earlier this month and the case was adjourned for the preparation of pre-sentence reports.