POLICE have promised to bring sex attackers to justice, regardless of how far they have to travel to catch them.

The commitment came as it was revealed it cost Lancashire Police more than £12,000 to extradite Jeffrey Lake, who was eventually jailed for 18 years for sexual offences and cruelty against children.

The 78-year-old former police officer was brought back to the UK from Queensland, Australia, where he was found guilty of 20 counts following a two-week trial.

The majority of the offences happened when he lived in Accrington and were committed between January 1960 and June 1975.

The investigation was mostly carried out by one detective constable over a two-year period.

Air fares, including Lake’s, totalled £11,000 and accommodation for the five officers, including an inspector, two sergeants and two constables, who travelled to Australia, cost the force a further £1,500.

All of the officers had been accredited by the Metropolitan Police to conduct this speciaist type of work.

It is estimated that the Lake inquiry took around 160 officer hours.

A police spokesman said the force would not wish offenders to believe time or distance would prevent officers from pursuing an inquiry.

He said: “Lancashire Constabulary will always take allegations of sexual abuse extremely seriously.

“And we will always hunt offenders like Lake down.

“No matter how long ago the abuse or how far across the world we need to travel to bring them to justice.

“These were despicable offences committed against two children, made all the more sinister by Lake’s insistence of innocence and his attempts to persuade the jury his victims had invented the abuse.

“The considerable custodial sentence of 18 years reflected the depravity of what he did.”