A convicted child sex offender will be extradited back to Wales to face new charges within weeks, the High Court ruled today.
Roger Gardener, who has been on the run for more than six years, will also stand trial for conspiracy to pervert the course of justice and reckless arson.
Gardener (61) who had an address of Blackwood near Newport, was found guilty by a jury at Cardiff Crown Court in August 2000 of indecently assaulting two young cadets from a St John's Ambulance group run by his wife Margaret.
The girls were aged 12 and 13 at the time. The jury also found Gardener, an unemployed lorry driver and former fairground worker, not guilty of two charges of indecent assault against another girl.
It was while he was released on bail awaiting sentencing that Gardener allegedly plotted to set fire to his family home in a bid to gain sympathy from the trial judge and reduce his sentence.
He was later sentenced to just 15 months for the sex attacks after the judge was told about the fire blamed on vigilantes. He served 12 months in jail and just days before he was due to stand trial for the arson in June 2001 he went on the run.
Two brothers who took part in the mock firebomb attack have since been jailed for their role in the crime.
A European arrest warrant was issued last August and Gardener (61) was arrested in Mill Town, Malbay, Co Clare, on October 4, 2006. He is being detained in Arbour Hill prison.
Mr Justice Michael Peart heard the accused will now be prosecuted for rape and indecent assault, perverting the course of justice and arson.