Missing child rapist is arrested

Tregalles is guilty of a string of sexual offences against children

Police have arrested a sex offender who went on the run after failing to turn up in court for sentencing.

John Tregalles, 61, from Devon, did not appear at Bolton Crown Court, where he was given a 20-year term in his absence for three counts of raping a boy.

A warrant was issued for his arrest on 15 September and, despite efforts to trace him, he evaded police.

But officers acting on a public tip-off arrested Tregalles in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, at 1730 BST.

The charges he was convicted of relate to offences committed between 1986 and 1991, when he lived in the Rochdale area.

Tregalles, who recently lived in Teignmouth, was also found guilty of a string of indecent assaults on children under 13.

He was ordered to sign the sex offenders register for life.

A Greater Manchester Police (GMP) spokesman said: "GMP would like to thank members of the public for coming forward with information."