This article is from page 5 of the 2006-10-10 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 5 JPG
A 62-YEAR-OLD Welsh national suspected of committing sex crimes in the UK was arrested in Lisdoonvarna last Wednesday evening, The Clare People can reveal.
Roger Michael Batt, who used the alias name ‘Gardener’, was arrested at a house in Ballycanoe, on foot of a European Extradition Warrant. He is accused of three counts of rape, four of sexual assault and three of arson, in Fulham.
The arrest was made as part of an operation involving gardaí based in the Extradition Section of Garda Headquarters, and local gardaí. Batt was arrested at 7pm and taken to Ennistymon Garda Station, before being brought to Dublin, where he appeared in court. The case was adjourned until today (Tuesday), when he will re-appear in the High Court.
A warrant had been issued at the Magistrate’s Court in York, on August 18 last.
According to Gardaí, Batt had been living in rented accommodation, with a woman from the UK.
“We do not know how long he had been living there. He had not come to Garda attention,” said a Garda source.
This is the second time in seven months that a man in his 60s, wanted on foot of a European Arrest Warrant, has been arrested in the Ennistymon Garda District.
Cedric Harry Ludlam (61), from Yorkshire in the UK, was arrested in Miltown Malbay on March 29 last. He was wanted for questioning in the UK for alleged rape and sexual offences, involving adults and children.