By Graham Brown

A CONVICTED killer who went on the run from an Angus open jail is back behind bars after a lengthy stand-off with armed police near Glasgow.

Strathclyde Police arrested 51-year-old John Bowden and another man at a farm in the Hardgate area of Clydebank after what has been described as an intelligence-led operation mounted late on Thursday night.

A Strathclyde Police spokesman said yesterday, “Around 22.00 hours last night a pre-planned operation involving firearms officers and negotiators took place at a farm near Clydebank, which resulted in the arrest of two men, aged 50 and 51.

“The two are currently detained in police custody.”

Bowden is understood to have finally been taken into custody just after 6am yesterday.

Jailed for life at the Old Bailey in 1982 for the brutal murder of a park-keeper, Bowden failed to return to Noranside, near Forfar, while on a shopping trip just over three weeks ago.

Police warned the public not to approach the murderer and, as the inquiry developed, confirmed that their efforts to track down the escapee were concentrating on the Glasgow area.

It is expected that Bowden will be transferred back to Angus for a court appearance in Forfar on Monday.

Bowden was transferred to Scotland in 1995 after striking up a relationship with a woman and became an inmate at Noranside in October 2007.

At the time of his disappearance he had completed his full term and is understood to have been awaiting a parole hearing.