A sexual predator has been arrested in Fife after nearly two years on the run.
Robert Clark vanished before he was due to be sentenced at Tain Sheriff Court in November 2020.
When he failed to appear, a warrant was issued for his arrest.
Police Scotland made multiple high profile appeals for information about Clark’s whereabouts, but warned the public not to approach him.
The 59-year-old continued to evade police until last month when he was arrested in the Fife area.
He appeared at Dunfermline Sheriff Court and admitted breaching a strict court order by failing to notify police of his location.
Living rough
A solicitor for the accused said he had been living as a “vagrant” since falling to appear at Tain on November 16, 2020.
Fiscal depute Amy Robertson told the court that following his conviction, Clark was placed on the sex offenders register and required to provide his address within three days.
However he failed to do so.
She said: “He failed to appear at Tain Sheriff Court on November 16 2020. Detective Constables made a number of attempts to contact the accused on his phone, but on all occasions it was switched off.
“He was not in contact with friends, family or associates.
“As a result of this he was recorded as a high-risk missing person and attempts to trace him were made by Police Scotland.”
Officers checked an address in Edinburgh in November, before finding Clark’s motorbike at a Fife industrial estate in early 2021.
Accused ‘flaked out’
Clark, formerly of Inverkeithing, admitted failing to notify police of address between October 11 and November 11, 2020.
A not guilty plea to possession of an illicit bank card was accepted by The Crown.
Sentence was deferred for reports, and to await the outcome of his court case in Tain.
Clark was originally convicted of two counts on indecent assault and a further charge of forcing someone to look at a sexual image.
He appeared at the Tain Sheriff Court earlier this week, where sentence was deferred for updated background reports.
Solicitor Laura-Jane McFarlane told the court: “He was due to be sentenced some time ago in relation to matters.
“When he was on his way to Tain Sheriff Court he has effectively ‘flaked out’ and he went around avoiding coming to court.”
She made no application for bail and told the court he was currently remanded in relation to an offence in relation to not notifying the police of his new address.
The case will call again in Tain on September 26.
Clark, who has been remanded, will be sentenced for breaching his conditions at Dunfermline on October 5.
Clark remains on Police Scotland’s missing persons website.
In their original appeal for information, the force said Clark was last seen in Lumphinnans on November 15, 2020.
A Honda CBR600 motorcycle belonging to Clark, who is known as Rab or Sparks, was recovered at Fordell Industrial Estate in Crossgates the following January.
