A convicted sex offender who absconded from open prion and sparked a nationwide manhunt has been arrested, police confirmed.

Paul Robson has been at large for four days after he absconded at 7am on Sunday morning.

Lincolnshire Police East Area Commander Chief Superintendent Kate Anderson said Robson was arrested in the Skegness area.

She said: “We are pleased to report that we have arrested Paul Robson.

“We are grateful to members of the public for their help and support in sharing our appeals and we’d also like to give thanks to everyone who have called in with potential sightings of him.

“We’d also like to extend our thanks to partner agencies and our officers for working tirelessly to apprehend Robson.”

What was Paul Robson in prison for?

Robson was jailed at Oxford Crown Court in 2000 after he entered a woman’s home through a cat flap before tying her up, putting a pillowcase over her head, and brutally assaulting her while holding a knife to her throat.

The 56-year-old had only been released from prison three weeks before the attack and was on licence – with the sentencing judge describing him as a “menace to females”.

How did Paul Robson escape from prison?

Robson walked out of HMP North Sea Camp near Boston. The jail is a category D men’s open prison which holds a large proportion of sex offenders and those serving indeterminate sentences, according to an inspector’s report following a scrutiny visit in April last year.

The report, published in June, said 70% of prisoners were assessed as “presenting a high risk of harm to others” and more than half were convicted of sex offences.