Padiham sex offender arrested in Holland

Police said Dennis Bowskill, 43, of Albert Street, who is on the sex offenders register, was arrested by Dutch officers at Amsterdam Central Station.

He had been a wanted man since March 8 when he failed to answer bail and appear at Burnley Crown Court to enter a plea to charges of possession of indecent images.

Detectives from Pennine’s Public Protection Unit (PPU) said they worked closely with a number of partner agencies, including Interpol, the Serious and Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) and the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre, to track down Bowskill.

They said the arrest was a ‘culmination’ of the different agencies working together.

Bowskill was featured on BBC1’s Crimewatch programme on Wednesday, June 9 and an appeal was also put out for him in Europe.

Detective constable Andy Ashworth, from the unit, said officers were told he was in Amsterdam shortly after the appeal.

He said: “We received information that he was in Amsterdam, communicated with SOCA and we then worked with the Dutch police, who arrested him at Amsterdam railway station.

“He had been making his way from Utrecht, where he had been staying, to Amsterdam, where he was looking for accommodation, but Dutch police intercepted him at the station.”

“We worked very closely with SOCA and the Dutch police and liaised with Interpol to get a European arrest warrant.”

DC Ashworth said Bowskill was known to be a regular church-goer, so they distributed his details to Church Child Protection Advisory Service member organisations as part of the investigation to track him down.

He said: “We worked with the church because we were concerned that he would link with them while he was on bail.

"We notified every Methodist and Anglican church in Europe and we think that might have contributed to him being found in Amsterdam.

“His arrest is the culmination of all these partner agencies working together.”

Bowskill is now awaiting extradition to the UK.