A man who was on the run for almost 10 years after he failed to appear in court to be sentenced for a drugs conspiracy has been caught in Warrington. Jason O’Connor, who is originally from Merseyside, was detained at an address on Stansfield Avenue at around 12pm today (Thursday, April 7).
The 46-year-old had failed to appear at Chester Crown Court on April 17, back in 2013, after he was found guilty of conspiracy to produce cannabis. He was sentenced, in his absence, to five years in prison but has been wanted ever since.
O’Connor was part of an investigation into a conspiracy to produce and supply cannabis in the Elton and Helsby area between 9 February 2010 and 31 October 2010. A warrant was executed at a property on Marsh Lane in Elton on 9 February 2010 and O’Connor was arrested after 225 cannabis plants were found.
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Officers from the North West Regional and Organised Crime Unit (NWROCU) arrested O’Connor, who was then taken into police custody and appeared at Warrington Magistrates Court on the afternoon of Thursday 7 April.
PC Matthew Uren, of Cheshire Constabulary and who led the investigation at the time, said: “Today’s arrest is fantastic news and I want to thank officers from the NWROCU. O’Connor has evaded punishment for almost a decade by choosing to go on the run but justice has now finally caught up with him and he is now behind bars.”
Detective Chief Inspector Jason Pye from the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit said:“This is a fantastic result for our new operations team who have been proactively searching for O’Connor for a number of weeks. We’re glad to have helped our colleagues from Cheshire Police put him behind bars where he will now face the punishment for his crimes.”
