Justice catches up with man on run

A prolific criminal who was on the run for nearly a month after he breached the conditions of his release licence has handed himself in to police.

Thomas Barlow, 26, of Beards Road, Ashford, gave himself up at Staines Police Station on Tuesday October 28 when he failed to obey a recall to Wandsworth Prison at the beginning of October after a parole stint since March.

Barlow, who is now back at Wandsworth Prison, was convicted of offences including burglary, aggravated vehicle taking, criminal damage, driving while disqualified and two counts of obstructing a police officer in 2005 and sentenced to four years in prison.

He breached his early release licence conditions to attend compulsory probation meetings and fully engage with probabtion and Surrey Police's prolific and persistent offenders (PPO) unit.

Surrey Police launched an appeal to find Barlow as soon as he failed to present himself.
Detective sergeant Jon Hillard, from the PPO unit, said: "I have no doubt the combined pressure of our ongoing enquiries and the information provided by residents and in the media eventually caused Barlow to realise the gravity of his situation and give himself up.

"I would like to thank the members of the public who responded to our previous appeal as this resulted in a number of useful leads and possible locations for officers to check."