ARMED police have arrested a fugitive wanted in connection with the killing of a father-of-two in the Costa del Sol and the kidnap of a lorry driver in North Yorkshire.

Armed police arrested Darren O'Flaherty on Tuesday night while he was celebrating his birthday in a Chinese restaurant in Caernarfon, north Wales.

Police in Spain want to speak to O'Flaherty, 39, over the 2010 murder of Dublin holidaymaker John O'Neill.

He is also wanted by North Yorkshire over the 2006 knifepoint kidnap of a lorry driver.

The driver was taken on a terrifying early-morning journey by masked hijackers targeting his load of electrical equipment.

The man was driving an Iveco box van north along the A1 when he pulled off the dual carriageway, stopped in a lorry park at Londonderry, near Bedale, and went to sleep in the cab.

He was woken by masked men, who threatened him and drove the van away with him inside.

It is understood he was taken to Liverpool before being released. The cargo, worth £400,000 was removed and the vehicle was then set alight.

Dave Allen, head of the fugitives unit at the Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca), said: “Darren OFlaherty was out celebrating with his friends, but law enforcement had planned a birthday surprise.”

According to reports, Mr O'Neill was in Cocos Bar, in the resort of Benalmadena, near Torremolinos, with friends for a wedding when he was killed in July 2010.

Witnesses said a man in the bar grew increasingly angry over having to wait to use the toilet and began kicking the cubicle door, which led to an argument.

It is understood Mr O'Neill intervened, acting as peacemaker. The man stormed out of the bar, only to return a short time later with a gun, which he used to shoot the Dublin plasterer - who had a three-year-old son and a nine-month-old daughter.

O'Flaherty was one of the suspects identified as part of Operation Captura - a campaign targeting British criminals thought to be hiding in Spain.

O'Flaherty appeared before magistrates on Wednesday morning for a minor driving offence committed on Merseyside.

Court proceedings regarding the more serious offences will follow in North Yorkshire.