POLICE forces throughout the world are searching for fugitive teacher Philip Howarth.

The news came as West Midlands police renewed their appeal for information about the whereabouts of the man they want to question about pornographic material found in a raid on his Wolverhampton home.

Mr Howarth, of Burnley, was cleared of a child molestation charge by a court in Thailand last month, but the judge said there was evidence he was about to commit an offence.

The 39-year-old former public school teacher jumped plane during a re-fuelling stop at Athens as police at Heathrow waited to interview him on his return to this country.

He has not been seen since and, today, Detective Inspector Cath Hannon, head of West Midlands paedophile and pornography unit, said: "He is still missing and we have passed on his details to both national and international police forces."

She added: "Obviously we are still keen to trace Mr Howarth and we would be grateful for any information from the public as to his whereabouts."

West Midlands police have been in touch with both Europol and Interpol in their efforts to track down Mr Howarth, not seen since his disappearance on December 19.

At Christmas, Mr Howarth's mother said she had not heard from her son and appealed for him to come forward to clear himself.

She said: "He has done nothing wrong and I am behind him 100 per cent."

Today, the phone at Mrs Howarth's Burnley home was answered by a man who said she was in bed and "very, very poorly."

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