Aaron Williams made headlines in the UK after he was sprung from a security van as it arrived at court
Police in Tenerife have captured a fugitive British armed robber who made headlines in the UK after he was sprung from a security van as it arrived at court in an escape made to appear like a kidnapping.
Aaron Williams, 33, was held at a hotel on the sunshine island after fleeing the UK with a relative’s passport.
He went on the run in March 2007 after being heard shouting ‘Don’t let them take me’ as he was dragged from a security van outside Salford Magistrates Court by three men with knives.
Police said afterwards they had not ruled out the possibility he had been taken against his will.
It later emerged it was a fake kidnapping and he took part in a violent £70,000 robbery at a building society in East Yorkshire while on the run.
The 33-year-old was caught by two off-duty officers while he was out shopping, and jailed for 10 years but went on the run again in November 2018 after being released from prison on licence.
Aaron Williams, 33, was held at a hotel in Tenerife on the sunshine island after fleeing the UK with a relative’s passport
The fugitive, from Lower Broughton, Salford, is already understood to have appeared before a judge in Madrid as part of an extradition hearing.
It was not immediately clear if he had agreed to be flown back to the UK or was opposing extradition.
Spanish police released footage of heavily-armed officers arresting the fugitive.
A spokesman for Spain’s National Police, which did not name Williams in a statement, confirmed: ‘National Police officers have arrested one of the members of a gang which robbed banks and security vans using firearms.
‘The detainee, who had committed his crimes in the UK, was the subject of a European Arrest Warrant.
Spanish police released footage of heavily-armed officers arresting the fugitive Aaron Williams
‘He had reached Spain using the passport of a relative he bore a striking resemblance to.
‘On March 21 2007 he was arrested following a robbery in Swinton, Greater Manchester.
‘He was taken to a police station but managed to hide a phone in his clothes which enabled him to maintain contact with the other members of the gang.
‘The following day, when he was being taken to court, the van he was in was attacked by members of the gang outside a court in Salford.
‘The masked men, armed with knives, managed to free him.
‘Six days later, he participated in an armed robbery on an armoured security van.
‘He was arrested again and sentenced to 10 years in prison but in November 2018 managed to flee again while he was on licence.’
The arrest is understood to have occurred on July 2 but Spanish police only went public with it yesterday
The hotel in Tenerife where he was arrested has not been named. The arrest is understood to have occurred on July 2 but Spanish police only went public with it yesterday.
Services company GSL, which was responsible for Williams’s transfer when he escaped in March 2007, described the incident at the time as ‘very serious.’
It said the van was waiting to go through a barrier to enter the court’s secure car park when it was targeted.
The men slashed the van’s front tyre, before punching the driver and threatening a female security officer.
A GSL spokesman said at the time: ‘Our prisoner custody officers have been threatened with violence and one has received injuries which we think are as a result of being punched,’ a spokesman said.
‘This is a very unusual incident. When this level of extreme violence is offered or used there is very little that we can do.’
Williams was featured on a Crimewatch appeal soon after his escape.
A crime youth worker named as Clare Greenhalgh was later suspended from her job and handed a suspended prison sentence after it emerged she had assisted Williams while he was on the run following his security van escape.
She was caught out by a photo showing her and Williams sitting on her sofa which she had pinned to her fridge and another of him eating pizza.