Murderer on the run found in Gateshead house

Oct 25 2009 by Sophie Doughty, Sunday Sun

AN ALBANIAN murderer who has been on the run for almost 15-years is today behind bars after he was found hiding out in the North.

An international man-hunt was launched after Sokol Sinani fled his native Albania following the gun-slaying in a local graveyard, in 1996.

But the Sunday Sun can today reveal the 37-year-old has spent at least the last five years living freely with his family, in Gateshead, under an alias.

During that time he was on Interpol’s most-wanted list and his photo circulated among European police.

Sinani, who is understood to also use the name Ismail Sinani, was arrested last week when officers from the Metropolitan Police turned-up at Cypress Grove, a quiet cul-de-sac in Ryton, where the fugitive had been hiding.

Yesterday neighbours in the terraced street told of their shock.

They said Sokol lived in the street with his wife Carol, her mum and two children.

And people living nearby witnessed plain-clothed police officers turn-up last week.

One neighbour, a mum, who does not want to be named, said: “A big black car pulled up.

“It had been coming and going for a while. The men inside looked like they showed some sort of ID, and they went into the house. He went away with them, and we haven’t seen him since.

“His car is the Silver Mondeo parked in the street, it hasn’t moved in two-weeks, which is strange because he usually takes the kids to school every day. I haven’t seen him at all.

“I don’t know what he does for a living, but he would often go out for a few hours in the morning and come back at lunchtime.

“We’ve never really got on with them. They have lived there about two years.

“About two or three months ago there was an argument after a drilling noise woke us up in the night.’”

Another neighbour, a 37-year-old woman, added: “The car that came a couple of weeks ago was a big black Ford, like something undercover cops would use.

“It’s really quiet around here and as it’s a cul-de-sac it’s normally only residents’ cars that you see, so we noticed it coming round every so often.

“There were about seven men in the car, one of them had a big manilla file with lots of documents in it.