Video shows moment wanted murderer Alexander Carr arrested in tent after going on the run
Footage released by Northumbria Police
The moment armed police arrested a wanted murderer, who had gone on the run for three weeks before being caught camping near a railway embankment, has been released.
Alexander Carr killed mother and grandmother Michelle Hanson at her home in Sunderland in late November 2022.
He went on the run, sparking a nationwide manhunt, and was arrested on 21 December in London.
On Friday 16 June, he was jailed during a hearing at Newcastle Crown Court.
He was given a life sentence and will have to serve a minimum of 19 years.
The court heard Carr had stabbed Ms Hanson at least 29 times before fleeing the scene and going on the run.
He is thought to have walked a “significant” way from Sunderland and was traced to the Lincolnshire coast, where he was tracked getting on a train to London.
The Sunderland University student was found camping in a tent on an embankment near Upper Holloway railway station.
He had previously been homeless in London and believed himself to be an "urban survivalist".
When police arrested him after a struggle in which they used a Taser, the powerfully built 33-year-old was found to have a hunting knife with him.
He was caught on body worn video captured by officers, asking “how did you find me?”
During the sentencing hearing, Ms Hanson's daughter Shannon Brown described the killer as an "evil person" who had taken advantage of a "vulnerable, kind and loving woman".
She added: “It is horrific to know he towered over her in both height and strength and my mam was defenceless. This is something we must all try and live with.
“Carr stole the last moments I should have had with my mam and I couldn’t say goodbye and never got tell her how much we all loved her. His cowardly actions of running away meant I had to wait over three weeks before I could see my mam in the chapel of rest and I wasn’t able to touch her face or kiss her cheek.
“My mam was a kind and caring woman with a huge heart. She had an infectious smile, a brilliant sense of humour. She was a character and was always vulnerable to people taking advantage of her. But she would never hurt anyone and always saw the good in people."
Detective Chief Inspector Graeme Barr, of Northumbria Police, said: “Carr has shown no remorse and has never provided an explanation for why he murdered Michelle – a woman who invited him into her home as a friend. He killed her in her own home and then fled thinking we would never catch him. This is evident in the way he speaks to us during his arrest, genuinely shocked that the law had caught up with him.
“Carr’s conviction and sentence shows that violence will never go unpunished and that dangerous people like Carr do not have a place in our communities.
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