Fugitive Huddersfield gunman Bradley Okoro found...in Spanish prison

Oct 23 2009 By Andrew Hirst

ONE of Huddersfield’s most wanted men has been found ... in prison.

The Examiner can exclusively reveal today that 22-year-old Bradley Okoro has been located in a Spanish jail.

Okoro went on the run in March last year after he failed to turn up in court for his trial after he was given bail.

He was later found guilty of attempted murder in his absence and jailed for 18 years.

It has now emerged Okoro was arrested in Spain in August on suspicion of drugs trafficking and is remanded in prison in Seville.

He had given a false name, Daniel Smith, but checks on his fingerprints threw up the name Bradley Okoro.

Senior detectives in Huddersfield have now been alerted and moves are under way to have him brought back to the UK to serve his lengthy prison term.

Acting Det Chief Insp Andy Parr said: “We had intelligence that Okoro was in Spain and through the Serious and Organised Crime Agency we sent Okoro’s fingerprints across and the Spanish authorities came up with the name of a man they had in custody called Daniel Smith.

“We are sure this man is Okoro. He was found guilty of a very serious offence and is one of our most wanted fugitives.

“We are delighted to have tracked him down and are now moving closer to bringing him back to serve his jail sentence.

“This case shows the value of good quality intelligence information and how we will leave no stone unturned to solve serious crime.’’

Okoro pulled the trigger in a Huddersfield street in the early hours of April 22, 2006, when he fired shots at a car.

Okoro, of New Hey Road, Oakes, and two other men, James Collier, 27, and Carl Hughes, 31, were all found guilty for their parts in what happened that night.

Judge Scott Wolstenholme, sitting at Leeds Crown Court last October, jailed Okoro for 18 years for attempted murder in his absence.

CCTV of the shooting released by police in the hunt for Bradley Okoro on next page.