DROGHEDA, Ireland -- Police announced the arrest Thursday of Gerard Tuite, 'Britain's most wanted man' sought by Scotland Yard for an IRA bomb campaign in London during Christmas 1979.
Tuite, 25, escaped from London's top security Brixton jail while awaiting trial in 1980.
Described by Scotland Yard as 'Britain's most wanted man' specially skilled in changing his appearance, Tuite eluded a nationwide search and was linked with a deluge of Irish Republican Army bombings in London shortly after his escape.
Irish police disclosed few details of his arrest at Drogheda near the Northern Ireland border, 30 miles north of Dublin, but said he had been picked up with a number of other men.
Tuite was not wanted in the republic on any specific charge, but police said he was being questioned under Offenses Against the State Act, specifically designed to combat the IRA.
If convicted of being an IRA member he would face up to three years in jail.
