A violent Leeds fugitive who went on the run abroad for six years has been spotted back in his home city.
Brian Waite, from Gipton, was part of a gang that was involved in the £25,000 robbery of a Securicor van in Cardiff before torching the vehicle to destroy forensic evidence.
He was jailed for 11 years for robbery, arson and handling stolen goods in 2003.
But he disappeared from North Sea Camp Prison in Lincolnshire on November 30, 2006, and is believed to have lived in Spain and the Netherlands since then.
Police say he is thought to have continued his crime spree while on the run. But detectives say the net could be closing in on him after a sighting of him in East End Park in Leeds.
Det Insp Neil Hollis, of West Yorkshire’s crime division, said: “Waite has been on the run for over six years now and we are making every effort to locate him.
“We have reasons to believe he is committing further crimes and is using other people’s identities to travel between countries. We also believe he is receiving medical treatment within the UK and would like to appeal to the medical profession to help us in the search for this man.”
In 2010 the Crimestoppers charity named Waite – who uses the aliases Michael Birch and Anthony Waite – in a list of six “most wanted” suspects being hunted in the Netherlands.
Although his crime was in Wales, West Yorkshire Police has led the search for him because of his strong links to Leeds.
Waite is white, 5ft 11ins tall and of medium build with green eyes.
Anyone with any information about the fugitive should contact West Yorkshire Police on 101 or contact Crime- stoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.