A man who has been on the run from police for 20 years has been nabbed at Dover Eastern Docks.

Florim Krasniqi was 24 when he was charged with the harassment of a woman who was living in Folkestone and false imprisonment between February and April 1998.

Krasniqi, who was born in Albania, failed to show up at Canterbury Crown Court for his domestic violence-related trial in August 1998 and fled to France.

Judge Heather Norton was told that father-of-two Krasniqi, who is now 45, made a new life for himself, married and was granted the right to stay in France.

But a few days ago, he wanted to visit family in London and arrived at the port hoping the authorities had forgotten him.

His lawyer Max Reeves, who unsuccessfully applied for bail, told the court he had planned to visit his brother in London.

However, an arrest warrant from the last century was still in force - and he now has to serve a six month jail sentence for breaching his bail.

Judge Norton told him: "It's a significant aggravating feature that you have been absent for an extraordinarily long time.

“It may be that you are a different person now. Memories fade, witnesses may not be available and it may not be possible to find them.

“Real justice may not be done.”

Krasniqi may stand trial in June for the offences which are alleged to have happened two decades ago.