A SEX offender who has been on the run for nearly a year has been arrested after an investigation by The Northern Echo brought his identity to light.

Suraj Shyani Wijekoon had been missing from his home in Middlesbrough since last June, despite being a registered sex offender who was meant to keep police notified of his movements.

Cleveland Police agreed to issue the 28-year-old’s name and photograph last week after The Northern Echo discovered that four sex attackers from the region had disappeared.

Last night, Wijekoon was arrested in London after handing himself in to police.

The news brings further pressure on Northumbria Police, which refused to release details about two missing offenders for fear of breaching their privacy.

North Yorkshire Police issued an appeal to find convicted rapist Yuan Wei Zhang last week, after initially ruling that releasing the information could breach his human rights.

A spokeswoman for Cleveland Police said: “Police in Croydon have arrested a 28- year-old man on suspicion of breach of registration requirements and failing to make an annual notification to police.

“The man is due to be interviewed by police.”

Wijekoon was given a fiveyear sex offender order after he was convicted of indecently assaulting a woman in Lincolnshire in June 2006.

Criminals on the Sex Offenders’ Register are expected to notify police of their address so they can be monitored by the authorities.

Last year, convicted rapist Peter Chapman ignored the terms of his release, and disappeared from his home in Merseyside.

He was arrested nine months later in the North- East – a day after he murdered 17-year-old Ashleigh Hall, from Darlington.

Using Freedom of Information legislation, The Northern Echo found that one sex offender was missing from the Cleveland Police area, two from the Northumbria Police area and one from North Yorkshire.

No further details were disclosed, but Cleveland and North Yorkshire agreed to issue publicity appeals, and the story was followed up by national newspapers and television.

The offenders missing from the Northumbria area, including a paedophile, have been on the run for as long as two years.

Lord Mackenzie of Framwellgate, a former chief superintendent of Durham Police, helped to set up the Sex Offenders’ Register in 1997.

He urged police to make more media appeals to trace missing convicts.

He said: “It is reasonable that we do not normally publicise sex offenders’ details, like they do in the US, but when offenders break the rules of their release by disappearing, their human rights go out the window. There is an obligation on the police to publicise these details and I welcome the media’s interest in trying to track down these people.

“The whole point of the register was to keep track of sex offenders. If the person moves and does not disclose where they are, they are in breach of the rules of the court and forfeit their rights to privacy.

“The police force has a duty to find where these people are and one of the ways to do that is to launch a publicity appeal.

“I applaud The Northern Echo for what they have done.”

Former detective Ray Mallon, now the Mayor of Middlesbrough, welcomed news of Wijekoon’s arrest.

He praised the police forces that issued appeals and called for Northumbria Police to follow suit.

He said: “The prevention and detection of crime is not just down to the police, it is down to the public at large.

“It is, therefore, important that the police release information which will help to apprehend these offenders.

“This is a case in point, where a person has been arrested after a media campaign alerted the public to an offender at large.

“The police cannot do it alone.”

Anyone with information about Zhang, 26, who fled before he faced trial for the triple rape of a woman in Scarborough, is asked to call police on 0845-60-60-24-7.