UK fugitive killer arrested in Queensland A British killer who escaped prison after being jailed for a frenzied knife attack on his aunt has been captured on Queensland's Sunshine Coast. Simon Hennessey, 49, has been on the run since he walked out of an English prison in December 1998. In 1978 aged just 14 Hennessey mutilated his aunt Mary Webber, 72, in a brutal knife attack at her home on the English south coast city of Plymouth, stabbing her 70 times. He admitted killing his aunt but pleaded mental illness and was jailed for life in the same year. He served 20 years of that sentence before disappearing 15 years ago, but had escaped from a number of prisons before that. Queensland police have confirmed that a man they have charged with a series of fraud offences is Hennessey. A spokeswoman for Queensland Police said he had been arrested earlier this month in Maroochydore. He appeared before Maroochydore Magistrates' Court on June 17 and is currently in custody pending his next hearing in July. "There is not much more we can say because of the court situation but we are aware that he is a wanted criminal in the UK," she said. Hennessey's arrest is understood to be related to a sophisticated credit card scam running to tens of thousands of dollars. He could face a lengthy prison sentence if convicted in Australia but UK police have already contacted Australian authorities to discuss his extradition.