Child abuse accused arrested in Africa

Grampian Police were leading the search

An Aberdeen teacher who disappeared before he was due to stand trial on child abuse charges has been arrested in North Africa, Grampian Police said.

Paul Firth, 50, failed to appear for trial in October 2000 on a series of alleged sex offences against children.

He was arrested by the Spanish authorities on Monday in the Spanish territory of Ceuta on Morocco's Mediterranean coast.

An application is being prepared seeking his extradition back to the United Kingdom.

Alleged abuse

Firth has been the subject of a number of appeals on the BBC's Crimewatch programme.

The former assistant headteacher at St Machar Academy has been missing since October 2000 when he failed to appear for a sitting of the High Court in Dundee.

He was due to stand trial for a string of offences relating to the alleged abuse of children between 1974 and 1992.

Police interest centred on North Africa at the end of last year when a Scots couple claimed they had seen the former teacher living on a yacht off the coast of Morocco.