A FUGITIVE sex offender twice fled the country, buying a yacht, and was sheltered by his family in an apartment in Gran Canaria, a jury was told.

Frank Burgon flew to Turkey in July 2012 after being bailed by police over allegations he abused a woman when she was a young child.

Prosecutor Paul Newcombe said he bought a yacht, Lady Calypso, and remained at large until September when he returned to the UK and was arrested by police.

Burgon, from Hartlepool, was bailed again and made subject to strict conditions, including a night-time curfew, but on January 28, 2013, he withdrew £5,000 cash before, in March, travelling to France and buying a train ticket to Paris.

In December 2013 – having been on the run abroad for several months – he was collected from Gran Canaria airport by his brother George and taken to a “hideaway”, a rented apartment.

But neighbours became suspicious of his “fugitive” status and Burgon was arrested by Spanish police, before being extradited back to the UK on January 12, 2014.

In June of that year he admitted three indecent assault charges, breaching his bail and failing to comply with sex offender notification requirements and was jailed for just under four years.

In 2010 he had been jailed for 18 months and placed on the sex offenders register after being convicted of abusing a boy.

Burgon, 79, now of Borough Road, Middlesbrough, denies perverting the course of justice along with his partner Christine Officer, 77-year-old brother George and George’s daughter Alison Connor, both of Dalton Piercy, near Hartlepool.

The Crown’s case is that all four conspired together to keep Burgon outside of the jurisdiction of UK authorities so he could avoid a trial.

Mr Newcombe said: “If you are a fugitive and you have already served one term in jail, you don’t want another.”

Mr Newcombe said Christine Officer tried to conceal a laptop from police officers who called at her home in Bruntoft Avenue, Hartlepool, and discovered it contained searches about passport controls and electronic tags.

Ms Officer, 63, also had £19,155 paid into to her account – proceeds from the sale of the yacht – and quickly bought £15,000 worth of premium bonds in her own name from the funds, withdrawing the rest.

Mr Newcombe said: “This is a lady who says she is completely oblivious to what Frank Burgon is doing.

“She is far more involved than she would admit.”

The prosecutor said Burgon wrote a letter to Ms Officer from a Spanish jail which said: “George has got the money, ask if Alison can get the money back.”

He also said a business card relating to the yacht sale was found at the home of George Burgon, who claimed he tried to report his brother’s status to Spanish police.

Meanwhile, 52-year-old Ms Connor denied providing any assistance to Frank Burgon, although she said she was in regular contact as she was concerned for his welfare.

The trial, at Teesside Crown Court, continues.