A pub landlord who stole £40,000 handed himself in to police after realising he was a wanted man via a regional daily’s front page.

Daniel Howell-Jones noticed the Derby Telegraph’s splash after he failed to turn up for a court date because his summons was sent to the pub he ran, rather than his new address.

After the Telegraph reported he was “on the run”, he gave himself up and has now been sentenced to a community order, unpaid work and a curfew after pleading guilty to one count of theft from employer and another of fraud in relation to Derby’s Royal Telegraph pub.

Derby Crown Court heard how the 40-year-old found out he was “front page news” following the summons, and his conviction provided another splash for the newspaper.

The Telegraph’s splash in September prompted Howell-Jones to give himself up

Telegraph court reporter Martin Naylor told HTFP: “I had come across the original story while on a trawl through magistrates court results lists, got it stood up by the police, asked the brewery for a comment, published it and then parked it with a diary note to check if he ever got caught.

“Then, last week, when the name appeared for sentencing at crown court I checked with the CPS prosecutor who confirmed it was ‘a pub landlord that nicked £40,000′. I told her he must be the same man and even she didn’t know he had failed to surrender to bail previously.

“Then, when the defence barrister in his mitigation, said Howell-Jones had handed himself in only after finding out he was ‘front page news in the Derby Telegraph’ it all fell into place.

“As a court reporter who now carries out almost all of the court steps snatch pics on my smart phone, I even captured him post-conviction waving to the camera.”