A paedophile who fled to Spain after he drugged and assaulted young girls as part of a child sex ring has finally been brought to justice.

Paul Silverthorn, 36, of Mornington Road, Leytonstone was jailed for nine years at Blackfriars Crown Court yesterday (Monday, 30 January) after being captured in Ibiza last month.

He went on the run from the UK while on bail with his partner Leila Kassam, 32, after pleading guilty to two counts of unlawful sex with a 15-year-old in March last year.

Silverthorn and Kassam had with sex the girl after she was introduced to them by a “fixer” in 2014.

Silverthorn tied the victim to a bed after she was given the legal high “5 NEO” at a party in Coventry House, Haymarket, before Kassam molested her.

The couple also sexually abused a second 15-year-old girl, while Silverthorn took explicit photos of the teenager.

Police believe in April, before they were sentenced, the pair escaped to Spain, where they worked on a farm in Ibiza over the summer months.

East London and West Essex Guardian Series:

Paul Silverthorn and girlfriend Leila Kassam went on the run in Spain

The farm owner contacted police after seeing Crimewatch and Crimestoppers appeals online.

A European Arrest Warrant was executed by the Guardia Civil in Spain and Kassam was captured and flown back to the UK on December 9. She was jailed for four years on December 12.

However, Silverthorn was not at the farm when police carried out a raid.

After further enquiries, he was found elsewhere on the island on December 22 and was flown back to the UK on January 27.

Both he and Kassam received an additional six-week sentence for breaching their bail.

Faham Jaffer, 33, of High Street, Colliers Wood, and Daniel Trinnaman, 20, of Ventnor Avenue, Stanmore, were jailed in June last year for their parts in the plot.

Trinnaman was sentenced for sexual activity with a child and perverting the course of justice by sending threatening Facebook messages while Jaffer was found guilty of having sex with a child.