A COUPLE who went on the run after being arrested for drug dealing were back behind bars last night after a nationwide hunt ended in the Republic of Ireland.

James Campbell and Mandy Guy - dubbed Bonnie and Clyde when their disappearance was featured on television - were caught after starting a new life in Ireland.

The couple fled from their North-East home with Guy's three daughters ahead of an appearance in court in 2002 accused of conspiring to supply class A drugs.

They married while on the run, found jobs and settled into the community as they fought to kick the heroin habits that led to their offending.

But after an appeal on the BBC1 programme Crimewatch last year, the couple were found. They were extradited in November.

Yesterday, at Teesside Crown Court, Campbell, 32, was jailed for six years and his wife, 40, was jailed for a year-and-a-half as their tearful family watched from the public gallery.

Judge George Moorhouse read what he described as very moving letters from both defendants and their children, as well as references from people they had worked for while at large.

The judge said they should be congratulated for beating their addictions and starting a new crime-free life, but said: "Sadly, by committing these offences in 2001, you have now got to pay the price."

Christine Egerton, prosecuting, told the court that police raids on November 27, 2001, at three homes in the Lakes Estate area of Redcar, east Cleveland, led to the arrest of Campbell and Guy.

Officers found a locked box hidden in a pouffe in a flat in Blayberry Close, which had been rented by a friend of Guy's and to which the couple had a key.

Inside the box was £1,700 of crack cocaine wrapped in a pair of tights and placed inside an envelope that bore Campbell's fingerprints.

Police also found £305 of amphetamine, a bottle containing 17 ecstasy tablets, £110 of heroin, £150 of cocaine powder, a set of electronic scales, dealer lists and a door key.

Ms Egerton said the key fitted another flat in the same street, where Campbell had hidden £22,700 of heroin in a similar box in the attic.

At the couple's home in nearby Oxgang Close, police found knives, a cosh, a sword, several mobile phones and two radio scanners, as well as keys to both boxes hidden behind a mirror in the bedroom.

Campbell admitted possessing cocaine, heroin, ecstasy and amphetamine with intent to supply, and Guy pleaded guilty to allowing her friend's home to be used for the supply of controlled drugs. They also pleaded guilty to failing to surrender to custody