Briton's role in paedophile hunt

A British man played a key role in catching the international internet paedophile known as Mr Swirl, it was disclosed.

Howard Miller, 35, from Southend, Essex, gave police the vital tip-off they needed to catch Canadian paedophile Christopher Neil, who became the subject of international attention when he was made Interpol's most wanted.

Neil used a digital whirlpool effect to disguise his face, for which he was dubbed Mr Swirl, as he posed with his victims.

However a technical team were able to reverse his computer trickery and reveal his true identity.

But despite the unscrambled image of his face, Neil eluded authorities and fled, with his transvestite lover, to Bangkok and then to the Thai coastal resort of Pattaya.

According to ITV documentary Real Crime, his whereabouts were discovered by British ex-pat Mr Miller, who worked as a night-time volunteer with the Tourist Police in Pattaya and has lived in Thailand for the last seven years.

On October 17, 2006, Mr Miller tracked Neil down to the Ben Mansions hotel in the resort and alerted the police. By the time police arrived Neil had once again fled but CCTV images from the hotel showed his transvestite lover writing down his mobile phone number.

With this evidence the pair could be tracked by satellite and he was eventually arrested two days later more than 200 miles away.

Mr Miller said: "The tourist police were very lucky because we received a tip-off from a South African ex-pat that he was actually staying here. We were able to obtain CCTV pictures of him and he was seen to be checking in with his boyfriend."

Interpol Investigative Officer Mick Moran, who co-ordinated the hunt for Neil, said: "We showed the world and especially people who would abuse children that we are not going to rest at anything until you are locked up."

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