The convicted murderer of an 85-year-old man in West Yorkshire was arrested yesterday after escaping on leave from prison.

Paul Maxwell, 49, disappeared while visiting Rochdale on Friday while on day release from HMP Buckley Hall with prison staff.

Maxwell was arrested yesterday morning in Albert Park in Salford after a public appeal by police.

A spokesman for Greater Manchester Police said: “Another man he was with has been arrested on suspicion of assisting an escapee.”

Maxwell was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1996 for the murder and robbery of Joe Smales in Wakefield.