Police vow there is no hiding place in rural county for criminals

RURAL NORTH Yorkshire is no safe place for criminals to keep a low profile, police have warned after arresting a wanted international fraudster in Helmsley.

Senior North Yorkshire Police officer Paul Somerville said the operation to trace holiday park owner Joseph Burnside, who was wanted by French authorities, proved criminals would not go undetected on the force’s watch.

A European arrest warrant was issued in June for Burnside, 32, from Hurworth Moor, near Darlington, after he was convicted of fraud and criminal conspiracy in his absence by a court in Rennes, France.

Burnside worked on more than 200 construction projects in France under various company names and made a total income of about 900,000 euros in one year alone, but the work was substandard and he failed to deliver some of the projects, which dated from 2005 and 2006, police said.

Having worked with French Gendarmerie and other international authorities to find Burnside, specialist patrol officers at North Yorkshire Police stopped his vehicle in Helmsley marketplace on Tuesday.

He was arrested and has since been remanded by City of Westminster Magistrates’ Extradition Court ahead of a full extradition hearing on February 19 in the new year.

Mr Somerville, from North Yorkshire Police’s Force Intelligence Bureau, said: “Some criminals think that because we’re a rural county, they can move around undetected and with impunity. Nothing could be further from the truth.

“We use a range of specialised operational and intelligencebased techniques to find wanted people, and we have a strong track record of catching offenders wanted in connection with overseas crimes.”