ONE of the region's most wanted men was today finally starting the prison sentence that he fled abroad to avoid.

Paedophile Stephen Burnell appeared before a judge at York Crown Court yesterday after two-and-a-half years on the run.

The 56-year-old was arrested in Crete earlier this month and was escorted back to Britain on Monday night.

Burnell, who lived in the South Bank area of the city and was originally from Scunthorpe, went on the run early in 2007, days before he was due to appear before a court.

However, the trial went ahead in his absence and he was convicted of a series of offences against a nine-year-old girl, including attempted rape, making pornographic images and eight sex attacks. The judge at the time gave him a six-year sentence.

Today, Burnell looked tanned and had blonde shoulder-length hair when he appeared in the dock before the Recorder of York, Judge Stephen Ashurst.

He hesitated before pleading guilty to failing to surrender to custody on February 27, 2007, the day his trial was due to begin.

In mitigation, barrister Helen Hendry said Burnell made the decision not to attend his trial because of the pressure and stress he was under.

She said the defendant fled the country shortly before his trial, travelling first to Amsterdam from Liverpool and then to Crete, where he had been working in a taverna.

The court was told how the authorities finally caught up with Burnell earlier this month when he was arrested in Crete following "a dispute."

Judge Ashurst sentenced Burnell to an extra 11 months in prison, on top of the original six years.

Burnell was finally snared as part of Operation Captura, a campaign by the charity Crimestoppers to track down UK criminals hiding abroad.

Detective Inspector Keith Ruff, who led the investigation into Burnell, said: "We are delighted that the law has caught up with this man.

"Our thoughts immediately go to the victim at the centre of the case and hope that she can now take some comfort from the fact that he is no longer at liberty."