A TRANSGENDER rapist who had been on the run for almost a year has his 14-year sentence increased for what a judge described as "a serious attempt to evade justice".

Craig John Hauxwell - listed in court under that name, but referred to during the hearing as Lisa - had six months imposed for breaching bail he was given ahead of a trial.

Hauxwell, 48, was sentenced in his absence to 14 years in prison last November after being convicted for two rapes and seven indecent assaults between 2001 and 2002.

Images of Darlington-born Hauxwell appeared on Crimewatch UK’s Wanted Faces segment, which was aired on BBC One last Monday, and dozens or callers got in touch.

Hauxwell - who has lived as both a man and a woman, but most recently as a man - was arrested at a travellers' site in Nottinghamshire the following night.

Nottinghamshire Police, working on behalf of Durham Police, arrested him Newark-on-Trent, where he was booked into custody as Craig John Hauxwell.

He appeared at Teesside Crown Court with long blond hair in a ponytail and wearing a green t-shirt and blue jeans, and was referred to by lawyers and staff as Craig, but by Judge Simon Hickey as Lisa.

Judge Hickey, who presided over the trial last year said Hauxwell going on-the-run had put the victims of his Newton Aycliffe crimes through extra anxiety.

Detective Inspector Yvonne Dutson, of Durham Police, said after Hauxwell's arrest: “This was a fantastic result and due entirely to the calls we had following the appeal on Crimewatch.

“We understand Hauxwell had been living at the address in Newark for several months, without anyone knowing his true identity.”

Before the televised appeal, the last known address for Hauxwell used by the police was in the Leeds area and he had last been picked up by CCTV cameras at a petrol station in Derbyshire.

James Fenny, mitigating, said Hauxwell, who admitted the Bail Act offence, had "simply buried his head in the sand, afraid of the consequences."