A former law lecturer who went on the run from a court in England before a jury found him guilty of downloading indecent images of children has been arrested in Romania.

Julian Myerscough, 56, a former criminal law lecturer at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, absconded from his trial at Ipswich Crown Court in September 2015 while jurors were deliberating their verdicts.

He was convicted, shortly after he went missing, of 13 counts of possession of indecent images of a child and three counts of breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

He was sentenced in his absence at Chelmsford Crown Court last year to three years and six months’ imprisonment and a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

Myerscough was detained by law enforcement officers in Romania on July 26, Suffolk Police said.

His extradition was approved at a Romanian court on August 7 and arrangements are being made for Suffolk Police officers to travel to Bucharest and return him to the UK, the force said.

Myerscough, originally from Bolton but who was living in Lowestoft, Suffolk, initially fled to Ireland after he absconded.

He was spotted on a ferry from Holyhead and was detained at a Dublin city centre hotel by Garda officers under a European Arrest Warrant in October 2015.

However, he thwarted extradition efforts with a series of appeals over two years, and was released from prison in Ireland as the High Court in Dublin deemed in August 2017 that too much time had passed.

A decision was taken to sentence him in his absence in September 2017.