British police have paid tribute to An Garda Síochána for apprehending a British serial child-sex offender.The man has been sentenced to 32 years for the rape of four children as well as other sexual offences against children.Det Constable Susan Abbott of West Yorkshire Police praised north Cork gardaí for the manner in which they arrested Jason Spence (38) of Roker Lane, Pudsey, west Yorkshire, after he fled to Ireland while facing sentence in Britain for sex crimes between 2015 and 2022.Spence had been remanded on bail for sentence after he was convicted on April 2nd at Leeds Crown Court of 13 offences. These included four counts of rape of four children under the age of 13 and five counts of indecent assault of children under the age of 13.“He had been convicted after a three-week trial and bailed for sentence on April 16th,” Abbot said. “But he drove to Scotland and caught the ferry to Northern Ireland and then made his way over the Border into the Republic and we were tracking him with intelligence that we were sharing with An Garda Síochána.”After 33 days, Spence was found, based on the intelligence supplied by the police to the gardaí, and arrested in Mallow, Co Cork.“I couldn’t be more pleased when I got that phone call from Det Insp Anne Marie Guiney in Cork to say that they had got him ... it was really brilliant work by them and a great result,” Abbot said.Guiney of the Cork County Garda Protective Services Unit said they were happy to be able to assist UK police with the matter and explained how the British police had obtained an extradition warrant for Spence at the High Court in Dublin on May 18th.“We had got the intelligence from Det Constable Abbott and her colleagues, so we knew he was in the Mallow and Charleville areas, so Det Sgt Michéal O’Regan in Mallow put in place an operation and once we got the extradition warrant, we acted on it immediately”.Spence was then apprehended by gardaí in his car in a housing estate in Mallow. “Our extradition unit, our Mutual Assistance Unit and our Sex Offenders Management Unit in Dublin were all involved as well, so it was a real team effort,” Guiney said. “Only for Susan Abbott and her colleagues in the UK and their intelligence, we would never have got him, so they must get great credit, too.”Spence was returned to Britain on July 1st and on July 8th he was sentenced to 32 years – 24 in prison and eight on licence.“Spence is clearly a dangerous man who has preyed on multiple children,” says Abbott. “I hope that knowing he is now in prison helps those who have been involved in this awful case as they continue to try and rebuild their lives.”