Good fences make good neighbours, and I guess that’s certainly true if you happen to live anywhere near Lee Nigel Tucker.

The 52-year-old went on the run from authorities 15 years ago, living in Green Point for over a decade whilst awaiting sentencing for sexually assaulting boys in Britain.

What’s really odd is that Tucker somehow managed to buy a house and work as a helicopter pilot and IT specialist without being detected. This from IOL:

Originally busted in Bristol in 1998 as part of a paedophile gang that targeted boys aged between 12 and 15, Tucker was found guilty in 2000 of a series of child sex assaults. While out on bail receiving treatment for a serious disease, he fled Britain and is believed to have spent time in the Far East before arriving in Cape Town in the mid-2000s.

You can see the photo of the chap from the UK Database site (HERE), which also outlines the horrific crimes for which he was convicted.

This description of his crimes comes from The Free Library:

Tucker was arrested after a two-year police inquiry into sex abuse in the Bristol area.

He was part of an evil paedophile ring.

Three other members have also been convicted of sex crimes against young boys.

They took the youngsters back to a house in Bristol where they drugged them – sometimes with heroin – and forced them into sex and prostitution.

The story of how he came to be nabbed in Cape Town all these years later is quite the gem:

Last week, acting on an Interpol arrest warrant, officers from the South African Police Crime Intelligence Unit and the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Investigation Unit investigated apprehending Tucker.

They found that Tucker, who is from Swansea in Wales, could not be arrested at the helicopter charter company where he had been working as he had been recently retrenched.

Further surveillance revealed that arresting Tucker at his home – a corner double-storey, semi-detached house in a road below High Level Road – would be difficult as it was protected by security gates and high, spiked walls.

So, using information that Tucker had recently reported a break-in to his garage at his local police station in Sea Point, they hatched a plan.

Posing as local police investigating the crime, officers arrived at Tucker’s home on Friday at around 8am and were welcomed in. Tucker was then arrested without disturbing any of his neighbours.

So why might you know him then? Turns out he was pretty popular with said neighbours and wasn’t the type to hide away:

Disbelieving neighbours were visibly traumatised when hearing about Tucker’s background and arrest. Some of them broke into tears on learning the news.

Those who agreed to be interviewed asked that their names be withheld. One long-time resident, who knew Tucker well, said: “Never, never, never. It’s not the same person. It can’t be him. We’ve had police here (investigating crimes in the road), he’s been down to the police station before… It can’t be Lee… He’s our friend, he’s our neighbour. It can’t be him.”

The neighbour, a retired nurse, added: “Lee would go out of his way if you asked him to help you with something, so it’s a terrible shock. I feel like crying I’m so shocked. He is such a nice man. An extremely nice person. This is the last thing I would have expected.

“I can’t believe that he is a dangerous paedophile who must not be approached. It’s just not Lee… And I can promise you, there were never any children visiting his house.”

Said another woman resident who was close to Tucker: “He’s a strong guy. He’s well built, He’s a gym fanatic. He wouldn’t have gone quietly and we didn’t hear anything this morning.”

“He’s a wonderful neighbour,” she added.

“He was so quiet and such a nice person, so I don’t believe it.

How about if you hit up the Virgin Active gym around those parts, or enjoy a bite to eat at some of the local spots:

A keen cyclist, Tucker worked out regularly at Green Point Virgin Active.

He was also a regular at Giovanni’s, a popular Italian delicatessen located in Main Road less than five minutes drive from his house.

One staff member, who did not want to be named after identifying Tucker in a photograph, said: “I’m shocked to hear he is a wanted paedophile. I didn’t know him by name but he was a regular customer. He was a quiet guy who came here for lunch with a group of friends of his age.

We should all breathe a collective sigh of relief that a man like this has been taken off the streets. Play nice all you want, a history that includes such heinous crimes needs to be punished with the full force of the law.

[sources:iol,ukdatabase,thefreelibrary]

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