'Most wanted' fugitive Andrew Moran jailed in Spain
A man who became one of Britain's most wanted fugitives has been jailed in the Spanish capital for drugs and firearms offences.
Andrew Moran, 31, from Salford, pleaded guilty in Madrid to offences committed in Spain while on the run and wanted by Lancashire Police.
He had absconded during an armed robbery trial in Burnley in 2009 and was convicted in his absence.
Moran was detained after a pursuit by Spanish police in May.
His luxury villa in the Calpe area of Alicante was raided and two handguns, 60 rounds of ammunition and a machete were recovered.
Security guard injured
After serving his six-and-a-half year sentence in Spain, Moran will be sent back to the UK and sentenced for the armed robbery and for escaping from custody.
In May 2005 Moran and Stephen Devalda, 29, from Salford, held up a Royal Mail van outside an Asda store in Colne.
The pair brandishing a handgun, machete and baseball bat injured a security guard and stole £25,000.
Moran was later arrested but during his trial at Burnley Crown Court he assaulted four security guards, vaulted over the dock and escaped.
He was convicted in his absence of conspiracy to commit armed robbery.
Devalda also went on the run before being captured in Spain in March 2011.
He was later jailed at Preston Crown Court for nine years and eight months for conspiracy to commit robbery and breaching bail.
In December Gemma Harvieu, 29, of High Lane, Chorlton, pleaded guilty to assisting an offender and money laundering, after Preston Crown Court heard she wired £3,600 to ex-boyfriend Moran in Spain.
She was given a 12-month suspended sentence and ordered to do 300 hours of unpaid work.
Moran's sister Simone Moran, 27, and Jason Fitzgerald, 28, both of Edenbridge Drive, Radcliffe, received the same sentence as Harvieu after admitting assisting an offender at earlier hearings.
Leighton Craft, 39, of Parkhill, Prestwich, was previously given an eight-month suspended sentence after making an untrue statement to procure a passport.