Fraudster admits abduction and having sex with girl, 14

John Bush, from Doncaster, yesterday pleaded guilty to taking the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, for four days in June.

During a hearing at Sheffield Crown Court, the 35-year-old also admitted an offence of making off without payment from a hotel. He was remanded into custody and is expected to be sentenced next month. Bush wore a blue T-shirt in the dock and appeared relaxed as he entered his pleas.

Police first raised the alarm over the girl after she and Bush disappeared on June 10. She was last seen outside her school before sightings of the pair were reported in Doncaster, Leicestershire and Watford.

During the nationwide search all air and sea ports were put on high alert amid fears they would leave the country. They were finally tracked down near Euston station in central London on June 14.

In February, Bush was given a 14-month suspended prison sentence and ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work for fraud offences.

York Crown Court was told at the time that he had committed a range of fraud offences, including persuading garages to give him courtesy cars he never returned and using a holiday cottage without paying.

Chief Inspector Craig Robinson, of South Yorkshire Police, who led the investigation to locate the girl, said in a statement: “Bush was guilty not only of abducting a child but he went on the run across the country in a deliberate attempt to evade arrest.

“Thanks to the professionalism, dedication and hard work of the investigation team, and with the support of our colleagues up and down the country, we built an unassailable case against Bush which helped secure his guilty pleas, so sparing the child and witnesses the upset of having to give evidence at a trial and saving the public the expense of a trial.”