These are 10 of the most wanted suspects UK police want to put behind bars (Picture: National Crime Agency)
Suspected gang hitmen, manipulative rapists and brutal thugs are among the most wanted people being hunted this Christmas.
The alleged violent criminals all feature on the National Crime Agency’s (NCA) list of prime targets.
For the families of the victims of violent crime, the festive period can be the hardest time of the year, especially for those still mourning someone who was taken away from them.
Their attackers might have managed to evade justice for decades and some could even be living happy lives under new identities in another country.
Detectives are constantly waiting for a new lead or any shred of information, perhaps hoping Christmas will stir someone’s conscience to do the right thing.
These are 10 of the men British police most want to see behind bars in the new year.
Derek McGraw Ferguson
Thomas Cameron was brutally gunned down outside the Glasgow pub where he worked on June 28, 2007.
He walked out of the Auchinairn Tavern to speak to two men waiting for him in a car minutes before he was found dead.
Derek McGraw Ferguson, born in the same city in 1964, is the prime suspect in the assassination and has not been seen since.
It’s thought he could be in Spain, where he is also wanted, and investigators believe he may have had a hair transplant and could be speaking with a different accent to avoid detection.
Derek McGraw Ferguson has been on the run for more than 15 years (Picture: National Crime Agency)
Allan Foster
Father-of-seven David ‘Noddy’ Rice was lured to a pub car park in South Shields on the North East coast on the pretext of discussing a debt in May 2006.
Soon after he arrived two men in ski masks opened fire and murdered the 42-year-old in full view of members of the public.
One of the killers, Steven Bevens, pleaded guilty to his involvement but detectives are still hunting for Allan Foster.
The suspected drugs trafficker had previously been accused of tricking a jeweller into handing him an £80,000 diamond ring by pretending it was for a Premier League footballer.
He was once referred to by police as the ‘Mr Big’ behind the gangland killing and police believe he may be lying low in Spain.
The NCA say he has links to the Canary Islands and Majorca and has gone by the alias Shaun Michael Wilkinson.
Allan Foster is wanted in connection with a brutal assassination in a public spot (Picture: National Crime Agency)
John James Jones
Police have been hunting for John James Jones since a frenzied knife attack outside a pub in Liverpool.
Two men survived a brutal assault in the Ormskirk area of the city in April 2018.
It’s though the suspect fled to Spain the day after and stayed in a hotel in Madrid, before leaving suddenly the next morning.
Investigators believe he has a connection to Ibiza and describe him as around 6ft, stocky and in his mid-30s.
John James Jones is thought to have traveled to Spain but has not been seen or heard from since (Picture: National Crime Agency)
Fatah Benlaredj
Benlaredj is wanted over the rape of a seven-year-old girl in May 2007.
Little information has been made publicly available about the suspected sex attacker but he is known to have previously used the nickname Samir.
The NCA have previously revealed they believe he may have fled to Spain.
He was previously described by the agency as one of their most sought after sex offence suspects.
Fatah Benlaredj is accused of raping a child and fleeing the country (Picture: National Crime Agency)
Costas Sampson
Costas Sampson was convicted of raping a woman in 2010 after a suspected spiking at a party.
The victim has no memory of being taken away by Sampson and another man, who told the woman’s friend they could help get them home in a taxi.
When they got back Sampson convinced the incapacitated woman’s friend he was a doctor and she went to sleep in another room.
The phone of the other male was later searched and police found footage of Sampson engaging in sex acts with the stricken victim.
Mobile phones, a laptop and computer games were also found to be missing from the property next morning.
Sampson, a Cypriot national who is known to use the alias Kostas, has been on the run for a decade.
Investigators say Costas Sampson has gone by the name Kostas (Picture: National Crime Agency)
Rezgar Zengana
A 25-year-old woman was raped in a Glasgow flat after getting into what she believed was a taxi.
Zengana was posing as a driver for hire in December 2006 to trap his victim.
The Iraqi national was convicted of the offence but managed to escape the country before being jailed for it.
It’s believed he could be hiding in the Netherlands or in Turkey.
Rezgar Zengana was convicted for the sex attack but fled before he was jailed (Picture: National Crime Agency)
Nana Oppong
Police are hunting for Oppong in connection with the assassination of a man outside a house party in Essex.
Robert Powell, 50, was gunned down in a drive-by shooting for his alleged membership of a rival outfit.
Oppong, who is in his early 40s, is accused of firing at Powell eight times from a 9mm pistol on the night of June 13, 2020.
The NCA say he has two circular scars above his right eye, a series of small scars on his left hand and fingers and a stomach scar near his naval.
Nana Oppong has been linked to a suspected gangland shooting in Essex (Picture: National Crime Agency)
Mark Francis Roberts
Police believe Roberts was one of two men who savagely attacked their victim with a knife in an attempt to steal a £60,000 watch.
The man refused to give up his Richard Mille timepiece when he was confronted on the driveway of his home at 1.30am on September 30, 2016.
He managed to survive despite suffering life-threatening injuries, including a collapsed lung which left him fighting for life in a critical care unit.
During the attack, he heard one of the assailants say they’d cut themselves and Roberts’ blood was later identified at the crime scene.
Roberts, who is from Liverpool, is described as 6ft 1in tall, of medium build and has a 7.6cm scar down his right leg.
Mark Francis Roberts‘ blood was found at the scene of a brutal robbery (Picture: National Crime Agency)
Jonathon Kelly
A serial violent criminal, Kelly is wanted by police in Scotland so he can be made to serve the remaining 10 years of his sentence for breaking his licence conditions.
He was convicted of various offences – including leaving a victim permanently disfigured and having a weapon in prison – between 2002 and 2010, before being released early in September 2013 from a 16-year sentence.
The NCA describes Kelly, who once left someone paralysed in a machete attack, as ‘extremely violent’ and warn he ‘poses a high risk to both police and members of the public’.
Investigators say he has distinguishing marks like scars to the left and right side of the face, on his arms and his right hand.
Jonathon Kelly is considered a highly dangerous man who has committed several offences (Picture: National Crime Agency)
Kevin Thomas Parle
For 18 years, police have been looking for Kevin Thomas Parle in connection with two notorious murders in Liverpool.
He is a suspect in the brutal slaying of Liam Kelly, a 16-year-old who was gunned down in the street in 2004, a crime for which three other men were convicted.
Parle was interviewed and released on bail before vanishing off the face of the earth.
Detectives have also linked him to the savage killing of Lucy Hargreaves, who was shot as she lay on the sofa in her home and was found in a burning building after her killer torched the room.
Police believe the murder was a case of mistaken identity and no one has ever been brought to justice for it.
Parle, who stands at 6ft and 5in, was known to use the nickname ‘Hemp’ and may have fled to Spain.
Kevin Thomas Parle has been linked to two different killings months apart (Picture: National Crime Agency)
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].
For more stories like this, check our news page.
Suspected killers, rapists and armed robbers are among those being hunted by the National Crime Agency.
