A prolific Shropshire burglar who has been on the run from Sudbury Prison for almost a month has been arrested – after being caught shoplifting.

Simon Morgan, pictured, was jailed for three-and-a-half years last year for stealing more than £11,000 from county homes and churches.

He also stole meat from Asda where he butted, kicked and spat at staff during a violent struggle.

The 29-year-old, whose last known address was on Wyle Cop, absconded from Sudbury Prison in Derbyshire on December 30.

He had travelled half way across the UK – only to be arrested by police in Torquay yesterday.

Constable Baxter Provan, of Devon and Cornwall Police, said: “He has been charged with theft and will appear before Torquay magistrates this morning.”

Morgan was jailed last February at Shrewsbury Crown Court after he admitted two burglaries at houses in Frankwell and Belle Vue, and had 14 other raids – including eight houses and four churches – taken into consideration. He also pleaded guilty to the theft of meat, as well as two assaults and being in breach of a rehabilitation order.

While on bail he stole Christmas presents and jewellery worth more than £900 from a house in Castlefields.

Judge Robin Onions said that Morgan, a heroin addict, had a “dreadful criminal record” stretching back more than a dozen years.

Morgan failed to return to Sudbury Prison from an external local visit that is part of its programme for rehabilitating prisoners into the community.

The open prison hit the headlines after it was revealed that five killers have disappeared from there since November. More than 660 inmates have gone missing in the past 10 years.