Convicted murderer David McCord has been apprehended by police in Northern Ireland after absconding from custody.

McCord was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2004 for the murder of 26-year-old Nichola Dickson.

The 54-year-old, who was on licence, was in the custody of prison staff at a property in the Crumlin Road area of north Belfast on Friday when he absconded.

Over the weekend, police worked to trace the whereabouts of McCord, who was considered “unlawfully at large”, and issued an appeal for the on-the-run prisoner to turn himself in.

The manhunt ended when he was apprehended in the Belfast area on Sunday.

He was later returned to prison.