A CONVICTED murderer who absconded from a prison near York is reportedly back behind bars after being tracked down in Ireland on her way to the continent.

Convicted murderer Clare McDermott, 28, was believed to be back in police custody yesterday after being located by Scotland Yard's extradition unit, but neither North Yorkshire nor Irish Police could confirm she was in custody.

A Scotland Yard spokeswoman said: "A Scotland Yard officer flew to Dublin on May 8 with a warrant issued by the extradition unit on behalf of North Yorkshire Police for the arrest of Claire McDermott.

"It was given to the Garda, and McDermott is now understood to be back in police custody."

The prisoner was understood to have been tracked down by undercover journalists from a national Sunday newspaper after trying to buy a fake Irish passport in Dublin.

McDermott fled Askham Grange prison in mid-April after serving eight years behind bars.

She had been ordered to serve a life sentence after murdering mother-of-one Lisa Morris, stabbing her in the chest with a kitchen knife at the victim's home in Leicester.

She was serving the final part of her sentence at the open prison near York, and had been studying at St John's College and working at Emperor's Gym in Skeldergate in preparation for her release.

McDermott was believed to have left the jail after getting into trouble with officials and is thought to have feared that she may have faced an upgraded sentence due to bad behaviour.

McDermott was from the Midlands. Police were hunting the area for the convict, with property searches and interviews of friends and family across the UK.

Colin Morris, father of murdered Lisa, said today: "She is obviously not a reformed character. The thing for us now is what they do with her. She should be in a secure prison, not an open one like Askham Grange.

"We've lost faith in the system."

Updated: 10:52 Monday, May 12, 2003