A HIGH-class crook, jailed for his part in the theft of a £400,000 Rembrandt painting, has won his fight for holiday pay earned while serving his sentence.

Former antiques dealer David Duddin, 56, was sent to prison at Newcastle Crown Court in 1997 for setting up a black market deal for the stolen masterpiece.

While serving the final 18 months of his sentence at Kirklevington Grange Prison, Yarm, near Stockton, Mr Duddin undertook full-time work as a porter at a nearby three-star hotel named, ironically, Judges Hotel.

After the hotel failed to pay him overtime and holiday time accrued during his 11-month employment, Mr Duddin took the owner to an industrial tribunal.

The case was due to be heard in Newcastle yesterday but at the last minute the hotel owner paid up.

Speaking at his home in Benton, North Tyneside, last night, Mr Duddin, said: "They gave me everything I was asking for which was £911 holiday and overtime pay. "They said I had no rights because I was a prisoner.

"I worked for them on a daily basis. Thankfully, they have backed down but I wish it had gone to court because people should know that this sort of thing goes on. "It has taken months of legal action. I think they have wasted the country's money.

"I received legal aid for the case. They should have just paid me."

Mr Duddin served four-and-a-half years of his nine-year sentence and spent some of his time at Durham's Frankland Prison.

His solicitor, Alan Horn, of Hadaway and Hadaway in North Shields, yesterday confirmed that a settlement had been reached and that payment had been received. The Rembrandt had been in the ownership of the Earl of Pembroke's family for more than 300 years before it was stolen in a burglary at Wilton House, in Wiltshire. Mr Duddin was trapped during a series of secretly recorded meetings with a detective, who posed as an advisor to black market buyers.

The painting was one of a number of items stolen from stately homes which were negotiated for sale by Mr Duddin, including a walking stick made from a spear which killed Captain Cook.

Last night, Judges Hotel and its owner, Down's Holding Limited, declined to comment.

The Prison Service said it did not comment on individual cases.