Convicted smuggler from South Yorkshire who went on the run is captured... in a pub

Lorry driver Richard David Curtis had skipped bail while he was awaiting trial over a £1.3m illicit tobacco plot.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) this week issued a public appeal to find the 57-year-old, who had been jailed in his absence but remained on the run.

Curtis, of Kings Wood Close, Bawtry, was sentenced in January to three years and nine months in prison after a trial heard 5.7 million cigarettes were found hidden beneath boxes of frozen chips inside his HGV at the Port of Dover.

Today HMRC said a member of the public had recognised Curtis after seeing his picture in a local news report.

It led to Curtis being arrested at a pub in Jacksdale, near Nottingham, on Tuesday evening.

Alan Tully, assistant director of HMRC's Fraud Investigation Service, said: “I would like to thank the public and the media for their assistance in putting Richard Curtis where he belongs, behind bars instead of in front of one socialising in the pub.

"Honest members of the public won’t tolerate crooks who steal from the public purse. And they certainly won’t tolerate crooks who think they can cheat justice and brazenly walk the streets."

Curtis appeared at Maidstone Crown Court on Wednesday before being sent to prison.

He will reappear before the court on 26 April to be sentenced for bail offences.