PERVERT JAILED..AT LAST PAEDO ON RUN CAGED AFTER 3-YEAR TRIP AROUND THE WORLD
Fugitive duped border patrol before fleeing to Amsterdam, Rome, Albania and Mexico
A FUGITIVE sex beast spent nearly three years on the run after duping border patrol security staff in Scotland into letting him leave the country.
Former teacher and self-styled lifestyle guru Roderick Beaumont spent time on the run in Amsterdam, Rome and Albania after being convicted of child sex crimes.
Beaumont, 65, then moved to Mexico – where he married a local woman before eventually being found and recaptured by police.
The paedophile skipped bail while he was waiting to be sentenced in December 2016 and flew out of Edinburgh with 9000 Euro in cash.
His bail terms prevented him travelling out of the UK without first informing police as part of the terms of being on the Sex Offenders’ Register.
But, despite the alarm being raised by airport staff in December 2016, Beaumont managed to persuade them he was intending to return from a holiday in Albania.
It was about two and a half years later that he was eventually captured in Mexico – after the Daily Record tracked him down there – where he was held in jail for a year waiting to be extradited. Yesterday at Dundee Sheriff Court, justice finally caught up with Beaumont as he was jailed for a year for fleeing the country after failing to tell the police he was going abroad.
Beaumont, of Dundee, admitted that between November 27 and December 3, 2016, he failed to give the police notification of his travel plans.
He admitted knowing he intended to travel to Amsterdam, Rome, Albania and Mexico on December 3, 2016 in breach of the Sexual Offences Act. He was on bail from Airdrie Sheriff Court at the time – and was subject to sex offenders notification requirements while sentence was deferred until December 16.
While he was on the run, an English court ran a historic sex abuse case against him for offences he committed while he was a teacher nearly 40 years ago.
Beaumont was found guilty and sentenced to four years imprisonment and had a further five years extended sentence added by the judge who branded him “a clear and present danger to children”.
He appeared via video link from
Countries where fugitive Beaumont went on the run for three years
Barlinnie Prison and fiscal depute Marie Irvine told the court: “Border Policing Command based at Edinburgh Airport were notified by security staff that the accused was passing through Edinburgh Airport in possession of 9000 Euro in cash.
“Officers stopped and interviewed the accused and he stated that he was travelling to Amsterdam, onwards to Rome and then onto his final destination, Tirana in Albania.
“He was travelling alone and stated he had a return ticket with a return date of December 12, 2016.
“When questioned about the cash, the accused stated he was using it to research and make a down payment for an apartment for him and his mother to ultimately move to.
“He appeared to be travelling with minimal luggage and his story appeared consistent with the way he presented, and he gave no additional cause for concern at this time.
“Inquiries were made which revealed his registered sex offender status and restrictions.
“There was no cause or reason identified at that time to prevent his travel and, as such, he was afforded his onward journey.
“Witness Detective Constable Cooper notified Dundee Offender Management Unit and further inquiry was made. It was confirmed the accused had breached his SONR by failing to advise of his intended foreign travel within the required seven day before travel period.
Solicitor Philip Cohen, defending, said: “Arguably, he ought to have been arrested at the airport, because he was in breach of the requirements.
“But, for whatever reason, he wasn’t noticed on the police system and was allowed to travel.
“Nevertheless he ended up in Mexico and was living there. He got married there and lived with his wife until he was arrested on the extradition warrant in March 2019.
“He clearly knew what he was doing. He has not tried to evade his culpability. His intention at some point is to return to Mexico when he is liberated.” Jailing Beaumont for a year, Sheriff Alistair Carmichael said: “In all the circumstances, only a custodial sentence is appropriate, which I think you know.
“I am taking into account the circumstances of the offence and the age of it, although a lot of that is down to you because you didn’t come back to the UK.”
THE Scottish Government’s Budget for the year ahead cleared its final hurdle last night but Labour accused SNP ministers of selling social care workers short.
The spending plan proposed by Finance Secretary Kate Forbes was passed with support from Green and Lib Dem MSPs after she reached agreements with both parties earlier this week.
It will deliver a pay rise for public sector workers, an expansion of the free school meals programme for primary pupils, and free bus travel for those aged 21 and under.
But Scottish Labour opposed the Budget after its call for social care workers to receive a pay uplift to £12 an hour was rejected as being too costly. The party had backed a call from the GMB union to boost pay for care workers who had served on the frontline throughout the coronavirus pandemic.
Labour MSP Jackie Baillie told MSPs: “These are the people who look after some of the most vulnerable people in our community. These are the people who during the pandemic faced death on a daily basis – putting themselves and their families at risk.
“These are the people who coped with a lack of appropriate PPE, a lack of guidance and the routine discharge of Covid-positive patients from hospital to care homes.
“It is therefore unacceptable that we are asking people to do those jobs on poverty pay.”
Setting out his party’s opposition to the budget, Labour finance spokesman Daniel Johnson said: “The median pay for social care workers is around £10 per hour across the UK.
“The critical work they do has been undervalued and underpaid for far too long. The pandemic has simply underlined and magnified this.
“That’s why Labour has made the call for social care workers to gain an immediate increase of £12 per hour, with a plan to implement £15 per hour, to recognise their work and build a care system that is skilled, effective and resilient.”
Forbes said the government agree social care workers should receive fair levels of pay – but could “only promise what can be afforded.”