A MAN who spent almost four years on the run after taking part in a burglary at a Chippenham computer firm has finally been jailed.

Jason Colliver had to be extradited from Holland earlier this year after going on the run following the raid at Lucent Technologies in 1999.

Though the 23-year-old was arrested soon after the break-in at Greenways Business Park he gave police a false name and failed to appear before the court.

He lived in London before finally fleeing the country to live with a girlfriend, until he was jailed for another matter in the Netherlands and returned to Britain to face the music.

Claire Marlow, prosecuting, told Swindon Crown Court that police received information that there was a break-in at the computer firm at 11.20pm on September 28, 1999.

Officers rushed to the scene and saw a man loading computer equipment into a Saab car.

She said the car, later found to be stolen, was driven off at high speed through Chippenham town centre with the lights turned off. The police lost the car but later that night it was found abandoned near junction 16 of the M4 with three Sun computers in the boot.

"A nearby resident was disturbed by a young man with a London accent asking for a taxi as he was lost," she said.

"He was taken to the train station in Swindon where he was arrested on suspicion of burglary."

After being questioned Colliver was released on bail but failed to return to Wiltshire.

Miss Marlow said a drinking straw and cigarette butt recovered from the Saab contained DNA which was tested and found to come from Colliver.

She said: "On March 20 this year Colliver was brought to Wiltshire to be questioned about his part in the burglary and giving a false name. He admitted his involvement."

Colliver, of Miller Walk, Duchy Street, Waterloo, London, admitted burglary and perverting the course of justice.

Charles Parry, defending, said Colliver and a friend were visiting their girlfriends in Swindon when the friend's brother phoned and told them to go to Chippenham to help him with a job. He was to get paid £200 for his part in the raid.

Jailing Colliver for 13 months, Judge John McNaught said "You were before the courts in 1995 and 1996 for burglary and here you are in 1999 back again."