A 75-year-old British man has been barred from returning to Spain after being found guilty of sexually abusing a minor in the UK.

John Sandell was allegedly found by the girl’s mother alone with two youngsters inside a caravan in the UK.

According to testimony cited by the Daily Mirror, she immediately removed the children from the scene, dismissing the explanations he tried to give at the time.

‘I didn’t expect to see such a sight,’ the mother told the court.

‘All I could think was to get the girls out of the caravan. He was saying it was not what it looked like and nothing had happened. I didn’t believe him.’

Following the conviction, the judge ordered Sandell to surrender his passport within 24 hours and banned him from travelling back to Alicante, forcing him to remain in the UK until sentencing is complete.

‘I am not comfortable with the defendant returning to Spain,’ the judge said.

‘I impose a condition of bail that the defendant must reside in the UK and he must surrender his passport to the police within 24 hours. On that understanding, he can leave the dock.’

His defence team had argued for existing bail conditions to remain in place, noting he had complied with all court appearances.

However, the court ruled that allowing him to return to Spain would ‘complicate’ proceedings.

A jury found the defendant guilty of several sexual offences against a minor, although he was cleared of other charges.

Prosecutors argued during the trial that he had manipulated the victim to gain her trust – claims he consistently denied.

The final sentence will be decided at a later hearing.