British ‘paedophile’ caught ‘trying to kidnap toddler, 2, from Spanish park’ | World | News

A British ‘pedophile’ who allegedly tried to kidnap a two-year-old boy from a park in Barcelona has been arrested. The 35-year-old man was detained after the teenager’s brave 12-year-old brother stopped him from picking up the little boy by punching him and forcing him to flee. Police in the Catalan capital are said to have discovered, after taking the suspect into custody, that he had previous convictions for sexual offenses against children in the UK.

They went to the scene and took statements from eyewitnesses and then tracked down the person. The incident took place on Sunday evening, December 21, in an unidentified park in the Sant Andreu district in northern Barcelona.

Local reports say the suspect is originally from Manchester but now lives in Barcelona.

After appearing before the investigating judge in a closed hearing, he was released on bail until the investigation continued. As part of his bail conditions, he was banned from coming within 50 meters of the park where the kidnapping attempt allegedly took place.

A spokesman for the regional Mossos d’Esquadra police force said: “I can confirm that an arrest has been made following reports that a man attempted to kidnap a child in a park in the Sant Andreu district of Barcelona.”

He refused to comment on reports that the suspect was already known to UK police for “sexual abuse” of children and possession of weapons at school.

It was not immediately clear whether he had been arrested for those crimes or whether he had already been convicted and was placed on the sex offender registry.

He is understood to be currently living in Barcelona’s Zona Franca district, a large industrial and logistics area in the Sants-Monjuic area between the Port of Barcelona and El Prat airport.