Man back in jail after 23 years on run

AN Irishman who abscon-ded while on day release from a Dutch jail 23 years ago took on a new identity and lived undisturbed in a quiet village in the Netherlands for decades, it has emerged.

Dublin man John William Keogh’s luck finally ran out last week when he was stopped in a line of motorists pulled over at a routine police traffic check in the southern Dutch province of Limburg.

The 49-year-old went on the run after obtaining day release from Maastricht prison where he was serving a six-year jail term for robbery with violent assault, causing the death of his landlord in December 1984.

He was classified as a fugitive in Dutch police records throughout the country and an alert went out for his capture.

When traffic police checked the computer records they discovered that the Irish motorist, who was known as John Reilly with a local address, was in fact John Keogh, jailed at the age of 23 for attacking and robbing a 67-year-old man who died from his injuries.

For decades the Irishman had managed to avoid attention, even becoming a prominent member of the local soccer club in the nearby village of Neer where he had lived since absconding from jail in 1988.

In recent years he went into business for himself as a handyman and registered a home repairs business with the Limburg Chamber of Commerce using his real name. Online reports from satisfied customers rate his work highly.

Police confirmed that the fugitive Dubliner is now back in jail to sit out the remainder of his sentence 23 years on.