Former Poppies owner Ladak finally arrested after two months on the run

Former Kettering Town FC owner Imraan Ladak has finally been arrested more than two months after he failed to turn himself in, it's understood.

The controversial 42-year-old, who ran the Poppies between 2005 and 2013, was jailed for six months at the High Court in Birmingham for contempt of court and was ordered to surrender to police by October 7.

Instead he went on the run and a warrant was issued for his arrest - but on Sunday (December 20) he was eventually captured just a few hundred yards from a police station.

The Northants Telegraph understands officers were called to a Travelodge, less than half a mile from Milton Keynes Police Station, after he was spotted at about 6pm.

It's understood he jumped into a car and drove away but was pulled over and arrested.

A Thames Valley Police spokesman confirmed they had arrested a 42-year-old man from Milton Keynes on a warrant in connection with a contempt of court.

Police had earlier been provided with his passport details and a warrant forbidding him from leaving the country with all airports, ports and the Eurotunnel on high alert for his capture.

In a judgment earlier this year His Honour Judge Rajeev Shetty said Ladak would have to serve six months behind bars at HMP Birmingham after breaching an order by making derogatory comments about former colleagues.

Ladak, whose reign at the Poppies almost saw the club go out of business after their ill-fated move to Nene Park, left medical recruitment firm Pertemps Medical Group (PMG) in 2018 with a settlement of more than £125,000, as well as a payment of almost £400,000 for his shares.

As part of his settlement he agreed not to say anything that would bring the firm into disrepute or make derogatory comments about it and its employees.

But in 2019 he claimed he was owed £20,000 and made a series of accusations in an attempt to get more compensation, a High Court hearing previously heard, breaching the contract and pursuing a "campaign of harassment".

He accused one former colleague of fraud and another of racism, saying emails were "more racist than Tommy Robinson".

Ladak, who previously brought England legend Paul Gascoigne in as Poppies manager for 39 days before sacking him, signed off one email with: "Regards, that little brown guy you declared war on."

He claimed they had turned a blind eye to the defrauding of the NHS, that the Pertemps business was a “scam” and accused one director of being a "drunken pervert".

Ater PMG's lawyers sent a cease and desist letter Ladak sent an email to a director and addressed him as "Timmy Saville".

In another email to solicitors and stakeholders he said to one director: "Make sure your next job doesn’t need a CRB check.”

Ladak, who was declared bankrupt on August 25, was also ordered to pay PMG £70,000 in costs from the contempt applications.