A British conman who was convicted after using the Manchester United striker Eric Cantona’s image on a range of wines without his permission has been arrested in South Africa after 21 years on the run.

Brandon William Pyatt, 64, from Droylsden in Manchester, was found guilty of a series of fraud and deception offences in 1998 and sentenced to five years in prison.

Pyatt skipped bail during his trial and fled the UK, using false identities to evade capture for more than two decades, until he was finally arrested last week.

Danny Murphy, a National Crime Agency officer, who worked on the original investigation, said it gave him “great personal satisfaction” that the fraudster had been caught.

Murphy said: “Having been involved in this case since the National Crime Squad and having led it ever since I can say that the arrest of Pyatt brings me great personal satisfaction.
“We never gave up, and his eventual capture is testament to the hard work of NCA officers in the UK and abroad and the South African authorities. “I hope the victims of Pyatt’s offending will now experience some form of closure, knowing that he is finally behind bars and I thank them for their patience over the last two decades.”

Pyatt first hit the headlines in the mid-1990s when he faced high court action for using Cantona’s image on a range of wines and brandy. He committed frauds that left some of his victims tens of thousands of pounds out of pocket, while others lost their businesses and livelihoods as a result.

The serial conman is also facing criminal charges in South Africa for alleged fraud and theft.

The 64-year-old was finally arrested in Pretoria last week after the UK NCA tipped off South African authorities.

He appeared in court in Durban on Tuesday, and the proceedings there will be dealt with before extradition is considered.

The head of international operations for the NCA, Ian Cruxton, said: “Pyatt travelled to the other side of the world and used a range of aliases and assumed identities in a bid to evade us.

“He is a prolific fraudster and it seems that during his time in South Africa he has continued his offending and continued causing harm, making it all the more important that we track him down.”