ROBERT WOOD PAEDOPHILE FROM DEWSBURY AND THAILAND CAUGHT AFTER MOTHER'S FUNERAL

In a significant development in ongoing efforts to combat child exploitation, Robert Wood, a known sex offender with a troubling history spanning both Thailand and Dewsbury, was finally apprehended after he returned to the United Kingdom for his mother’s funeral. Wood, aged 35 at the time of his arrest, had previously served a lengthy prison sentence in Thailand for heinous crimes involving the sexual abuse of young boys and the distribution of indecent images online.

His criminal activities in Thailand, which led to a 23-year imprisonment in 2003, involved luring street children aged between eight and fifteen under false pretenses, offering them a safe haven before subjecting them to sexual abuse. Prosecutor Christopher Jackson detailed to Leeds Crown Court that Wood, along with an accomplice, engaged in these predatory acts, which were also recorded and uploaded onto the internet, further exacerbating the severity of his crimes.

Following his conviction, Wood was repatriated to the UK to serve his sentence. However, after receiving a pardon from the King of Thailand, he was released in March 2012. Despite being on the sex offender register, which mandated him to inform authorities of any travel plans, Wood failed to comply with these legal obligations. He provided police with addresses in Dewsbury and Halifax but only stayed briefly at each before vanishing. Over the subsequent weeks, intelligence indicated that he was moving across Europe, with confirmed sightings and communications from France, Spain, Germany, and the Canary Islands. His travels culminated in a return to the UK from Holland following his mother’s death in January of that year.

Police investigations revealed that Wood had left the UK shortly after his release, traveling extensively within Europe. He was known to have made contact with authorities from Ireland, Germany, and the Netherlands, and had even worked in Spain and Gran Canaria, establishing a life abroad. Despite these efforts to evade detection, Wood’s movements were tracked, and he was finally arrested at the Chapel of Rest in Dewsbury on January 22, during his return for his mother’s funeral, who had succumbed to cancer.

During the hearing, Wood’s legal representative, Graham Parkin, explained that his client initially traveled to Belfast to visit his father, which did not require police notification. Subsequently, he traveled to Dublin for St. Patrick’s Day and decided not to return to the UK, citing the difficulty of living openly with his criminal record. Wood had obtained a passport in his own name and had been working in Spain and Holland, where he had built a new life, with no evidence suggesting further offenses. Nevertheless, his failure to notify authorities of his travel plans constituted a breach of his legal obligations.

At Leeds Crown Court, Judge Neil Clark sentenced Wood to 12 months in prison for failing to comply with the sex offender notification order. The judge emphasized the importance of such orders, stating, “These orders are important, designed for the protection of the public and in your case for the protection of children, and a breach will almost always lead to immediate imprisonment.” The judge also condemned Wood’s pattern of traveling around Europe, “stringing” the police along without revealing his whereabouts, and highlighted that his arrest at his mother’s funeral marked the culmination of his efforts to evade justice.

Earlier, in November 2003, Wood had been sentenced to an even harsher term—42 years—by a Thai court for sexually abusing at least eight street boys in Bangkok and distributing photographs of the abuse online. The court found him guilty of luring young boys, aged between seven and fourteen, into rented rooms where he committed sexual acts, sometimes with accomplices. The verdict also included charges of photographing the boys and sharing these images with paedophiles in Britain. During the trial, Wood displayed defiance, shouting abuse at the judge and banging the courtroom table, despite the sentence being reduced from an initial 63 years due to his “cooperative behavior.”

He was arrested at Bangkok airport attempting to leave for Dubai on January 14, 2004, following a tip-off from Manchester police, who linked him to internet-based child exploitation images. Authorities seized his computers and digital equipment, and the Foreign Office confirmed that the Bangkok embassy would provide consular assistance if requested. The widespread issue of child abuse in Southeast Asia, particularly in Bangkok and Pattaya, has been a concern, with many British nationals involved in such crimes, often exploiting street children and paying off victims’ families to avoid prosecution.

Wood’s case underscores the persistent challenges law enforcement faces in tracking and apprehending offenders who travel across borders, often evading justice for years. His arrest at Dewsbury’s Chapel of Rest, after a two-year disappearance, marks a significant step in addressing these heinous crimes and protecting vulnerable children from exploitation.