A PAEDOPHILE went on the run and slit his throat in a suicide bid as his trial continued at Mold Crown Court, it has been revealed.

After the jury members returned its verdicts in the case of Bryan Davies, 71, they was told the reason he had not been in the dock this week was that he had been found in a hotel in Folkstone, Kent, where he had slit his throat and cut his legs.

He was currently in hospital in London awaiting surgery.

Judge Huw Rees, who had issued a warrant for his arrest, was assured Davies was under police guard and as soon as he was well enough to be discharged then he would be arrested and brought to court.

The judge provisionally fixed the sentencing hearing for next Friday which, he said, would give victims the opportunity to attend.

Davies, the former deputy principal of a private children’s home in Llangollen, has been convicted of a number of historic sexual offences against eight young boys in his care.

The 71-year-old man had denied 29 charges against 11 boys back in the 1970s.

The jury of six men and six women returned 19 guilty verdicts -15 of indecent assault upon six of the complainants and four of an illegal sex act upon another complainant.

He was found not guilty of indecently assaulting three other complainants and indulging in an illegal sex act upon one of them.

They also convicted Davies of six charges of making indecent images of children between 2007 and 2013 and three charges of inciting young boys to indulge in sexual acts over the internet in 2011 and 2012.

After being given the jury the majority direction, the jury convicted him of indecently assaulting another complainant by a 10-2 majority.

He was cleared of two charges of indecently assaulting a complainant.

Davies had earlier been convicted of two offences against the same man when he was a child.

The defendant lost his job after he admitted indecently assaulting two children at the home in Llangollen Magistrates Court in the late '70s.

After being arrested and interviewed he fled the country and had to be extradited from Malta.

After the verdicts were returned the judge was told by prosecutor Daniel Moore that Davies had sent his solicitors an email on Sunday indicating that he was going to take his own life.

When it was seen on Monday the solicitors immediately informed the National Crime Agency and they used their techniques to discover that Davies was in a hotel in Folkstone in Kent.

Officers found Davies who had injured himself. He had slit his throat and cut his legs and was taken to the King’s College Hospital in London where he was due to have an operation to the throat.

He was under police guard and the operation had not yet taken place.

Mr Moore said Davies would require two days recovery before being fit to attend court.

The judge said the jury had not been told about Davies' whereabouts so they could concentrate on the evidence and not be swayed by events.

He had issued a warrant and when he was fit Davies would be arrested and brought before him.

Judge Rees said it was not appropriate to sentence Davies in his absence for such offences.

He said he faced “an extremely substantial” sentence of imprisonment.

The judge said he did not require a pre-sentence report. He did not intend to pass a life sentence or an extended sentence.

But the sentence he would pass would mean that Davies “will be in extreme advanced old age before he is released from prison”.

He thanked the jury members for their hard work during the last five-and-a-half weeks and said were "a credit to the jury system”.

Davies, of West Redhill in Surrey, denied all charges.

The sexual offences happened at Ystrad Hall and an annex named Eirianfa at Llangollen, which was run by a private organisation named Care Concern, back in the 1970s.

COMMENTING on the guilty verdicts of Bryan Davies for a number of non-recent child sex offences in the 1970s, an NSPCC Cymru/Wales spokesman said: “Davies has shown repeatedly during decades of offending that he poses a grave risk to children.

“He carried out appalling assaults on children in his care before more recently taking advantage of the opportunities provided by the internet to continue his campaign of child abuse.

“The victims who suffered at Davies’ hands should be commended for disclosing the abuse inflicted on them by someone they should have been able to trust.

“It is now vital that all of his victims are given the necessary support to overcome the trauma they have been put through.”

The NSPCC’s Letting the Future In programme, run from the Prestatyn service centre, provides therapeutic counselling to the victims of child sexual abuse.

Any child in need of advice and support can call ChildLine for free at any time of day or night on 0800 1111.

Meanwhile, adults with concerns over a youngster’s welfare can call our helpline on 0808 800 5000.