Gary Gibbon, who went on the run for three days after absconding from HMP Sudbury open prison in Ashbourne, Derbyshire, is back behind bars.

The 43-year-old walked into a police station yesterday morning to surrender to custody.

He was given a caution for absconding and returned to a closed prison where he could potentially face an extended jail term.

A national police search was launched to find Gibbon, who was sentenced to life imprisonment at Teesside Crown Court for murder on April 1, 1985, after he failed to return for roll call last Friday.

It was thought he may return to his hometown of Peterlee, where he had killed 43-year-old Nat Cook when he was aged 17.

Gibbon, formerly of Jude Place, Peterlee, had denied killing Mr Cook, whose body was found near his home in the town's Thames Road.

Gibbon, now 43, had claimed that he had fought with Mr Cook, but was not responsible for the injuries, including a throat wound from a broken bottle that killed him.

Durham Police had conducted checks of several properties in the Peterlee area since Gibbon fled the open prison on Friday.

But the search was called off after Gibbon handed himself in at Durham City police station yesterday.

A Prison Service spokesman said: "We do not comment on individual prisoners.

"Re-captured absconders will be returned to a more secure closed prison where they face either a criminal prosecution or an internal adjudication in prison in front of a visiting judge.

"In both cases they can receive additional time in prison on top of their existing sentence.

"All those located in open conditions have been risk assessed and categorised as being of low risk to the public."

The number of absconds from open prison is at its lowest level since centralised reporting began in 1995.

More than 96 per cent of prisoners who do abscond are re-captured and returned to custody.