A convicted child rapist has died behind bars from cancer, according to a prison service spokesperson.
Roger Gardener, 66, formerly of High Street, Fleur-de-Lys, was jailed for 12 years in February 2008 after being found guilty of indecently assaulting two young girls in 2000.
The former lorry driver was also found guilty of raping and indecently assaulting a girl under 14.
A Prison Service spokesman said: “HMP Parc prisoner Roger Gardener was pronounced dead on 22 December at the Princess of Wales hospital in Bridgend. He had been suffering from cancer.”
Gardener had been on the run in Ireland for six years before his trial at Newport Crown Court, where he was also convicted of arson.
The court heard how Gardener befriended a girl at a cafe in Fleur-de-Lys in the 1980s and had raped her as he set up a disco at the village hall.
He also got her to take part in a “threesome” with another young girl.
In September 2000, he faced being sentenced for three counts of indecent assault on another two young people.
He arranged to have his home burned down and fled to Ireland where he was arrested in County Clare in October 2006.
He was sentenced to eight years for the sex attacks and four years for the arson.