DETECTIVES revealed today that they may try to extradite fugitive York landlord Robbie Howse from Ireland.

Senior York police officers say the eight years that have passed since Howse stole thousands of pounds from The Punch Bowl in Stonegate are no barrier to bringing a case against him, if prosecutors decide it is in the public interest.

Nor will they be deflected by a decision by brewery bosses not to pursue Howse for the money.

Senior managers at Mitchells and Butlers, which now runs the former Bass Taverns pub, say they have written off the cash taken in 1996 and do not expect to get it back.

A spokeswoman said: "We investigated the incident in 1996, but we would now regard it as too long ago to pursue it any further."

But DC Ian Murray, of York CID, who investigated the theft in May 1996, said the case remained open and that officers would be discussing the new evidence uncovered by the Evening Press as soon as possible.

The newspaper has agreed to hand over its dossier on Howse, including a transcript of relevant passages from our reporters' conversation with him in Galway.

We exclusively revealed last week how we had traced Howse, 39, to western Ireland, where he had confessed to taking several thousand pounds after he "blew a gasket" when a brewery audit team confronted him over alleged discrepancies in his accounts.

He has started a new life posing as an Australian in the remote tourist town and has a pregnant girlfriend, a share in a property and a job as head doorman at a popular bar.

Rumours have circulated that Howse, who disappeared during a race meeting, may have stolen up to £40,000, but he claimed the amount was much lower. Police and brewery bosses have refused to confirm the total sum missing.

The Evening Press understands that a warrant for his arrest still exists, although officers have reviewed his case every year and without the new evidence it may well have expired in the near future.

North Yorkshire Police would need to apply for an extradition warrant to bring Howse back to England to face trial - a process that could take up to six months.

Updated: 09:48 Tuesday, September 14, 2004