Escaped prisoner arrested at St Pancras after 21 years

An escaped prisoner who spent 21 years on the run has been arrested after taking the Eurostar to St Pancras in London.

Malcolm Gooch, 68, from Essex, escaped while on day release from HMP Send in Surrey, three years into an 11-year sentence for drug smuggling in 1995.

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Investigators earlier this year discovered that Gooch may have been using a fraudulently obtained genuine passport in the name of Roger Skelton, according to the Evening Standard.

They found out he had used the passport to travel to Paris and the South of France. And, on Saturday, Border Force officials learned the passport was being used to travel on a Eurostar service from the Gare du Nord to St Pancras.

The National Crime Agency then tipped off the British Transport Police who arrested him as he stepped off a train at St Pancras.

According to the BBC, Jayne Lloyd from the National Crime Agency, said: "Gooch may have thought that after so long on the run he may have escaped justice for good. But he never vanished off our radar.

"We were able to build up a picture of his travel and, working with our partners at Border Force and BTP (British Transport Police), once we were alerted he was on his way back to the UK we moved quickly to have him arrested."

Gooch appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court and was sent back to prison to serve the remainder of his sentence.