Jailed: Whelan was given eight years after going on the run

A wanted woman who spent eight years on the run has been jailed after surrendering herself at an airport following a national appeal for information on her whereabouts.

Mary Whelan, 62, became involved in an argument with a man in The Lough Inn pub in May 2004 that escalated into a violent brawl in Belmont Circle in Harrow during which she injured her victim so badly that he lost his spleen.

Whelan was charged with violent disorder but failed to show at Harrow Crown Court.

She was convicted in her absence in August 2005 and a judge issued a warrant for her arrest.

The Irishwoman, from Dublin, escaped justice until she saw an appeal about the incident on a BBC Crimewatch programme in January.

She contacted Harrow Police and informed them of her whereabouts and turned herself in after arriving on a plane at London Stansted Airport in Essex on March 11.

Whelan was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment at Harrow Crown Court on Tuesday last week.

Harrow Police’s PC Martin Robinson said: “This is one of a number of cases where suspects have been wanted for crimes in Harrow for several years who have been traced and arrested by the unit in the last twelve months.”