Thomas Moran, now 51-years-old, spent 18 years on the run for drug charges. During that time he raised three families in Ireland and England and travelled freely right under the police’s radar.
 
Moran had five children by three different mothers, jetted between Ireland and England 60 times on holidays with his children, and incredibly, was never caught up with .
 
In 1993 the Irish conman was arrested for suspicion of intent to supply but he fled the court and returned to Ireland. It was only on 28th February this year that Moran was finally arrested and charged for his crimes.
 
He had returned to Northampton to find work and signed on to claim social welfare. It was only when his application was put into the system the police realized he was a wanted man.
 
Moran, a builder by trade and grandfather to seven children, pleaded guilty. He told the Daily Mail it was a relief to finally be free of the crime that had hung over his head for 18 years.
 
He told the Mail, “I had moved to England in 1987 because I needed to get the work.
 
“But when I was here I fell into a bad crowd and got into drugs and alcohol.
 
“After my arrest I was moved to a couple of different bail houses but the drugs were still everywhere so I thought I just have to get out of this place.
 
“So I went back to Ireland to look after my children and raise more kids. We just lived a normal life.
 
“We would go sightseeing, fishing, do water sports, I even took my youngest kids back to England for holidays but nobody ever said anything to me.
 
“It was as if they had completely lost me but surely if they wanted to catch me they could have quite easily considering how many times I went through customs.”
 
He had three children from his first marriage but one died in the late 1980s. His two surviving children live in Drogheda, County Louth. They are aged 34 and 28.
 
He had another daughter with a woman in Northhampton. She still lives there and is now 22 years old.
 
Moran currently has an English girlfriend and had two sons with her, aged 15 and 16. The boys were conceived in Ireland but live in England.
 
He was living near his girlfriend and two sons when he was arrested.
 
He continued, “I had to come back for work I was getting nothing in Ireland.
 
“We wanted to rebuild our lives here and have a fresh start.
 
“I was not sure if the police would still remember me but I needed the work so I thought I might as well just face the music.”
 
Moran pleaded guilty to two counts of possessing a class B drug with intent to supply, one count of simple possession and one count of failing to answer bail.