FELIXSTOWE: One of Britain’s most wanted criminals is back behind bars today after being captured at Felixstowe docks.

Drug dealer Gordon Lipscombe had spent nearly seven years on the run.

He fled before being given a six-year prison sentence after being found guilty in 2003 of Class A drug offences.

The 58-year-old was caught when UK Border Agency officers conducted routine checks on him as he attempted to enter the country at Felixstowe as a foot passenger from a Netherlands ferry last Friday.

They discovered Lipscombe was a fugitive, arrested him and took him to police custody in Clacton.

He was then transported north, where he appeared before Preston Crown Court and was remanded in custody.

Police raided a flat in Barrow, Cumbria in January 2003 where they found ecstasy worth around �10,000 from under the floorboards.

Lipscombe, along with his son, Kevin, were arrested and later charged with possession with intent to supply Class A drugs.

The pair were found guilty at a trial at Preston Crown Court in July 2003. Kevin Lipscombe was remanded in custody before being sentenced to five years in jail, but his father was granted conditional bail to consult with his solicitor under the proviso that he remained in the court house. However, Lipscombe senior fled the court and went abroad.

In 2005 Lipscombe senior’s case appeared on BBC 1’s Crimewatch where he featured on the programme’s most wanted.

Detective Sergeant Mark Fitzgerald, of Cumbria Police, said: “Locating Mr Lipscombe has brought a long and complex case to a close. We have never stopped looking for him and it was only a matter of time before the law caught up with him.

“As well as appearing on the Crimewatch ‘most wanted’, he was also due to appear on a similar ‘Most Wanted’ television programme in the Netherlands next week.

“This case just proves that there is no place to hide – we pursue criminals relentlessly and will never give up.”