An Irish post office manager who went missing as a suspected €1.76m (£1.6m) fraud was uncovered at his branch was found in Belfast after placing a €40,000 (£36,000) bet.

Tony O'Reilly (36), was tracked down to the city after he placed the massive winning bet on an odds-on shot to win €27,000 (£24,000).

He placed the bet with a Belfast bookie on Saturday.

O'Reilly's family admitted yesterday he has a gambling addiction, which in recent months had been secretive, uncharacteristic and had spiralled out of control.

Gardai told the PSNI to be on the lookout for Mr O'Reilly after he was reported missing by his family when he left his home in Carlow on Wednesday morning but failed to turn up for work.

His family were concerned he might have suffered a breakdown after an internal audit by An Post had discovered the alleged financial irregularities.

Mr O'Reilly was captured on CCTV cameras in Belfast and his missing Volkswagen car was located near the home of a friend in the city.