A brutal Dundee-born paedophile has been jailed for nearly 20 years for a horrific catalogue of abuse carried out on Crete.
The married 56-year-old received the sentence for sexual and violent crimes he committed against children while living in luxury on the Greek holiday island.
His trial heard how he abused the children, torturing them and keeping them prisoner in a basement, while being bankrolled by taxpayer-funded benefits.
Questions are now being asked about whether the authorities in Britain were aware of Barr’s predilection for children before he moved to the tourist resort Tavronitis in 2007.
The court was told that cruel Barr shaved his victims’ hair and eyebrows and locked them in a dark basement at his home.
It is understood the abuse against the children stretched back a number of years.
Specific sexual abuse allegations were made concerning two girls. They both told a high-profile Greek trial that Barr raped them.
Barr was arrested in January last year following a dispute over a car crash he was involved in with a neighbour.
While awaiting trial behind bars over the incident, two of Barr’s victims approached Greek locals with allegations about sexual abuse they claimed they had suffered at his hands.
They, in turn, alerted the Greek and British authorities and a massive international investigation was launched.
It involved, among others, council officials in Leeds, where the Barrs had previously lived.
Though living in Crete and claiming to be retired after making their fortune, it emerged during the trial that the Barr’s lifesytle was bankrolled by almost £4,500 a month in UK benefits.
Barr was born in Dundee in 1960 but his family soon moved to Leeds and he was educated there, excelling at rugby and coaching at a number of amateur clubs.
He also started his own driving school, before selling-up to move with wife Julie to Crete in 2007.
In Crete, Barr was initially thought of as a gentleman with a roguish sense of fun and was well liked by locals.
He was also known for his flash spending and his love of nights out, rugby and guns.
As time passed, however, it emerged that behind the smiling face was a beast who abused women in horrific fashion.
Barr’s trial heard crucial evidence from two neighbours who were separately approached by victims who confessed to them that they had been sexually abused in the attacker’s lair.
One was florist Danai Dagunakis, 28, who was confronted by Barr after he drove drunk into her parked car.
When she complained about the crash, gun fanatic Barr returned to the scene with a firearm to threaten Ms Dagunakis.
She called the police, but the episode had unforeseen consequences, as it was witnessed by one of Barr’s victims who, having seen the florist stand up to Barr, approached her and made harrowing claims about the sexual abuse she had suffered at his hands.
Speaking in court, lawyer Notis Fyllakis described Barr as “the definition of barbarity”.
He said: “The psychological and physical violence against these children paints a picture of a villain which not even Charles Dickens could have imagined.
“I do not believe that this terrible series of events will be resolved easily.”
Barr will serve his sentence in the tough Grevena jail in northern Greece among fellow sex offenders, people traffickers and drug dealers.
