Justice has caught up with a businessman who fled the UK three years ago just before he was convicted for a terrifying kidnap.

Dean Rice, 49, formerly of Button Street, Swanley Village, was sentenced indefinitely his absence in 2007, with the judge recommending he serve at least five years.

He is now on his way back to the UK to begin his life sentence after officers from the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) tracked him down to Alhaurin in Spain’s Costa del Sol (pictured below).

Three other people, including Rice’s wife Nichole, are already serving their sentences for their part in kidnapping Alan Clarke, who worked for Dean Rice.

In October 2007, Maidstone Crown Court heard that Rice who ran Erith Storage, ordered the kidnap of former employee Mr Clarke, accusing him of stealing £500,000.

Mr Clarke was walking near his home in London, when he was grabbed, forced into a van and threatened with being shot.

He was later taken to remote farm land at Shadoxhurst, where he was tied up in a Crucifix pose and left tied to a radiator.

He eventually broke free by jumping 15ft from a window to get help.

Rice’s details were added to a SOCA’s Operation Captura list, which publicises details of the most wanted criminals believed to be on the run in Spain.

His details had been released in Alicante and people living nearby reported Rice's location to Spanish police.