A man who was on the run from an open prison for 16 years has been jailed after being caught while on holiday to the Canary Islands.

Spencer White, from the Witterings area of Chichester, West Sussex, absconded from HMP Ford in July 1999 after being sentenced to three years for kidnapping an adult.

But in September the 39-year-old was stopped by police as he arrived at Lanzarote airport and was detained after being recognised as wanted on a European Arrest Warrant (EAW). He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 16 months in prison, on top of the two years and four months remaining on his original sentence.

Village phone box becomes library

Villagers have hit on a novel idea to save their red phone box – converting it into a tiny free-to-use library.

The redundant booth in Wall, near Lichfield, Staffordshire, was bought from BT for just £1 and fitted with shelves to hold books donated by a charity, residents and local councillors.

Wall Parish Council chairman John Crowe said people visiting the village, which has a population of around 200 and is famous for its Roman ruins, had been seen taking pictures of the library.

Cat gets food tin stuck on head

Felix the cat needed emergency surgery after he got a tin of food stuck on his head, a pet charity has said.

The former stray got into a scrape when he was scavenging in a neighbour’s recycling bin. Owner Sam Wellbank, 34, from Bedworth, Warwickshire, saw his predicament when she called him in for breakfast.

She said: “He spends lots of time outside but never wanders far. I heard a clatter as Felix jumped over the fence into the garden and when I looked outside, he was sat on the grass with the food can stuck fast on his head.”

800lb alligator taken to reserve

An alligator dubbed Godzilla and tipping the scales at more than 800 pounds has been taken to a gator reserve to live out its days, after being found wandering outside a shopping centre in Texas.

Godzilla was discovered on Saturday by people arriving for work at the centre in Sugar Land, Houston. It is believed he wandered over to the plaza from a nearby creek.

Christy Kroboth, licensed by the state as a “nuisance alligator trapper”, was called to help subdue Godzilla and take him away. She said Godzilla is blind in one eye and has only partial sight in the other. He was released at the reserve for his safety.

Boy’s sauce trip for drunk man

A man from Ohio asked his nine-year-old neighbour to drive him to a petrol station to buy barbecue sauce for their chicken dinner.

The boy drove the man to the petrol station but staff would not let the child drive home and reported the situation. Police said the 27-year-old man then tried to drive home and was pulled over by officers.

Officers said the man’s blood-alcohol content was several times the legal limit. He faces several charges, including child endangering, operating a vehicle while intoxicated, refusing a breath test and driving under suspension. Police said the man had the child over for dinner and the boy’s parents did not know the neighbour was drunk.

Digital catch on Lake Michigan

An angler made an unusual catch when he pulled a digital camera from Lake Michigan which had been knocked overboard two years ago from another boat.

Andre Monterio put the camera’s memory card in his computer and saw a sign saying Mike’s Family Pharmacy in one photo. He contacted pharmacist Mike Cook at the shop in Montague, northwest of Grand Rapids in Michigan. Mr Cook was on the boat when the camera was lost. He then contacted Deb Hays, whose husband owned the camera.

Mrs Hays told a local TV station that “when something falls in a great lake, your chance of getting it back is slim to none”.