A fugitive burglar has been arrested after spending three weeks on the run over Christmas.

Sean Williams was due to be sentenced on December 16 last year for breaking into the Liverton home of his dead grandfather but fled Exeter Crown Court before his case was called.

He had been warned he may receive a jail sentence and ’had a fit of the heebie jeebies’, a judge was told.

He told security staff he had left his keys in his car and was worried it would be stolen but after being allowed to leave, he never came back.

Williams, aged 46, of Paignton, was due to be sentenced for burgling his late grandfather Ronald Deathridge’s empty home in Summerlands Copse, Liverton, near Newton Abbot, on February 5, 2015.

He went to the house with friend Andrew Buckley after they had been drinking at the Jolly Farmer in Newton Abbot and the Star Inn at Liverton.

Williams had an injured leg and did not go inside but Buckley climbed through a window after using a wheelie bin to reach it.

He was caught after leaving a DNA sample on the window sill as he passed out a four foot brass standard lamp and a Capo di Monte statue to Williams. He also took three bottles of port for himself.

Williams later sold the two ornaments for £190 to a bric a brac shop in Newton Abbot, despite them being worth £3,300.

Buckley, aged 40, of Beaumont Close, Liverton, admitted burglary at a hearing at Exeter Crown Court in 2015 and was jailed for eight months, suspended for two years.

Williams also admitted burglary but claimed he had only gone to retrieve his grandfather’s ashes from the empty bungalow.

His story was rejected by Recorder Mr Rufus Taylor at a fact finding hearing at Exeter Crown Court and his case was adjourned to December 16 for sentence.

Judge Philip Wassall adjourned the case so it could be sentenced by Recorder Taylor. He remanded Williams in custody.

Miss Bathsheba Cassel, defending, said Williams had attended the last hearing but then left before his case was called on.

She said:"He has not committed any offences while on court bail or interfered with witnesses. He did attend court on the last occasion but then had the heebie jeebies."