Fugitive Mafia boss ‘spread terror in Sicily’

A fugitive Mafia boss caught hiding in suburbia was a leader in a murderous gang that “spread terror in Sicily”, a court heard yesterday.

Domenico Rancadore, 64, was denied bail at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on the grounds he has evaded capture since arriving in Britain 20 years ago by living under a false name.

He is wanted in Italy to serve a seven-year jail term for his role as “a man of honour” in mafia group Cosa Nostra, collecting bribes from builders in Trabia near Palermo.

Prosecutor Benjamin Seifert said: “The information says that Mr Rancadore was one of the heads of an armed criminal organisation known as Cosa Nostra which is said to be one of the most powerful Mafia organisations in Italy, made up of thousands of members spreading terror in Sicily by imposing its rules and controlling the area and systematically murdering anybody who did not comply with the will of the members of the organisation.”

Concerns were raised on Thursday over the validity of the warrant for the former teacher’s arrest, but yesterday a new warrant was issued and Rancadore was re-arrested in the cells.

His travel agent wife, Anne Skinner, stood at the back of the court with their daughter, Daniela, holding her arm throughout the hearing this afternoon.

Daniela blew a kiss to her father as he was taken down to the cells after being remanded in custody until Aug 22, when he will appear again at the same court.

District Judge Quentin Purdy told him: “It seems to be very clear on the information before me that you have actively evaded apprehension for a significant period of time.”

Rancadore was convicted of Mafia links in Italy in his absence after he had gone to Britain with his family in 1993.

Italian prosecutors claim that he received around £3,500 in bribe money, and Mr Seifert said he had “ensured strict compliance with the rules of the organisation”.

He was found guilty of being part of the gang between Dec 1987 and Apr 1995.

Defending, Euan Macmillan told the court that Rancadore has a heart condition and had a stent fitted last year. When he was arrested on Wednesday at his £300,000 semi-detached home in Manor Waye, Uxbridge, police said he had tried to flee through the back gate, only to come face to face with a waiting detective constable.

Yesterday Mr Macmillan claimed he had only gone outside after the officer had kicked in the back gate, and it was “fanciful” to think he would have been able to make his escape over the garden fence.