Maze escapee arrested at Texas border checkpoint

A republican prisoner who has been on the run since escaping from the Maze Prison almost 25 years ago has been arrested at a border checkpoint in the United States.

Paul Brennan was one of 38 prisoners who broke out of the jail in September 1983.

He had been serving a 23-year sentence for possessing a bomb and a firearm.

Mr Brennan was arrested by border police in Texas yesterday after allegedly producing an out-of-date immigration document and could now be deported back to the North.

In the 1990s, he successfully fought British attempts to have him extradited from the US, but the extradition requests were withdrawn as part of the Good Friday Agreement.

Sinn Féin says Mr Brennan is legally residing in the US after being granted the right to remain after the extradition case was dropped.