A fraudster who had been ‘on the run’ for 17 years cheekily asked for bail when justice finally caught up with him.

Martyn Caulfield, 58, made the request when he appeared before a judge following his arrest on Friday last week after returning from a holiday abroad.

A warrant had been issued back in April 1998 after he failed to turn up for a hearing at Maidstone Crown Court.

Caulfield had previously admitted insurance fraud dating back to 1993, but denied attempted fraud relating to an alleged burglary at an address in Hampkins Hill Road, Chiddingstone, near Edenbridge.

The warrant was issued by Judge Keith Simpson when Caulfield did not show.

“It’s been on my mind for all these years and I knew it would come one day” - Caulfield

But it was not until Monday that Caulfield was finally standing in the dock at the same court, this time in front of Judge David Griffith-Jones QC.

Caulfield was not legally represented and the judge adjourned the matter until May 18 to enable him the instruct a solicitor.

However, Caulfield, who told the judge police were waiting for him at the airport when he returned from his overseas trip, asked for bail when told he would be remanded in custody until May 18.

He offered to surrender his passport or be subject to electronic tagging so that he could return to his home and “take care” of his affairs.

“I do fully appreciate my misconduct in this affair and I am willing to face the consequences,” he added.

“It’s been on my mind for all these years and I knew it would come one day.”

Caulfield revealed that in the past 17 years, he had married and lived abroad, but was now “stable” back in the UK.

Despite refusing bail, Judge Griffith-Jones told Caulfield he could formally apply within the next seven days but had to put forward “sensible conditions” for his release.

The exact details of how Caulfield finally came to be arrested after all these years were not revealed.

Butt the court heard that by the time of his hearing in April 1998 his solicitors had lost contact with him and his employers did not know of his whereabouts.

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