ANOTHER registered sex offender, who was revealed to be on the run from North-East police after an investigation by The Northern Echo, has been arrested.

And police have confirmed that a second missing man who fled overseas has since died.

Earlier this month, The Northern Echo discovered that four registered sex offenders had gone underground after disappearing from their approved homes in the region.

Cleveland Police and North Yorkshire Police agreed to issue the names and photos of the wanted men for press appeals, but Northumbria Police refused on the grounds that it would breach the convicts’ privacy.

Northumbria announced last night that one of the men has been arrested in Leeds, and the second man has died in Egypt.

The men have still not been named, but the force has agreed that it will now review its policy on identifying missing criminals.

A spokeswoman said: “Northumbria Police takes a robust approach to managing sex offenders and values the assistance of the media in tracing absconders.

“In the light of recent events, we are reviewing our policy and procedure relating to the disclosure to the media of information about offenders, including registered sex offenders.”

Registered sex offenders must notify police if they intend to move house, so they can be monitored by the authorities.

Convicted rapist Peter Chapman ignored his order last year and went on the run for nine months before murdering 17-year-old Ashleigh Hall, from Darlington.

Northumbria Police have now revealed that a 24-yearold Iraqi man, who was sentenced to a 12-month community order for a sex assault on a teenage girl in July 2007, has been arrested in Leeds after disappearing from his home in Sunderland.

He is now back in Sunderland and police say he is now complying with his sex offender registration requirements.

The second man is a 75-yearold from Sunderland, who was jailed for nine months in March 2002 for possession of child pornography. He left home without informing police in December 2008 and went to Egypt. It has now been confirmed that he has died.

After the initial Freedom of Information investigation, Cleveland Police issued an appeal to find Suraj Shyani Wijekoon, a 26-year-old sex attacker from Middlesbrough.

Days later, he handed himself into police in London.

North Yorkshire Police initially refused to identify a missing rapist from their area in case it breached his human rights, but the force later apologised for the decision and issued photos and details about Yuan Wei Zhang, a 26-year-old who disappeared before he was convicted of raping a woman in Scarborough. Police believe he has returned to his native China.

Anyone with information about Zhang’s whereabouts is asked to call 0845-60-60-24-7.