One of Scotland Yard's most wanted men has been arrested in the Netherlands six years after escaping from a prison van.
Noel Cunningham, 47, from Rotherhithe, south east London, was due to stand trial over a failed £1.25 million security van raid when he went on the run in 2003.
Cunningham, who was living under a false identity, was arrested by Dutch police on Tuesday night in an Amsterdam suburb and will now be extradited back to the UK.
Cunningham was sprung from custody along with Clifford Hobbs, who was arrested in Spain in 2007 before being extradited.
The pair escaped in June 2003 while being taken from Brixton Prison in south London to Inner London Crown Court when the van was ambushed by two armed men.
The driver of the van was shot in the leg and a guard beaten about the head.
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said on Wednesday: "Noel Francis Cunningham, 47, was arrested by Dutch police at about 8pm last night.
"Cunningham was unlawfully at large and a European Arrest Warrant had been circulated for his arrest after he escaped from a prison van on June 10, 2003. The van had left HMP Brixton to travel to the Inner London Crown Court, Avonmouth Street, SE1.
"Extensive work to trace him by the Metropolitan Police Service and the Serious Organised Crime Agency led to the false identity he was using being uncovered and his arrest last night in the Amstelveen suburb of Amsterdam.
"He will be appearing in custody in Holland on September 11 where extradition proceedings will be instigated following his first appearance."
