DOMENICO RANCADORE ARRESTED AFTER 19 YEARS ON THE RUN.

Domenico Rancadore (inset), 64, who is wanted by the Italian authorities, was arrested by British police at his home (pictured) in Uxbridge, west London, last night under a European Arrest Warrant.

The father of two had been living as a house husband under the alias Marc Skinner since 1993 while his wife, Anne, ran a travel agency to support the family. The former teacher is wanted in Italy to serve a seven-year jail term for being part of a criminal organisation between 1987 and 1995, having been convicted in his absence in 1999.

Italian Police say he was involved in extortion, racketeering and drug trafficking.

The wanted mobster, who has an English wife and two children, had the nickname 'The Professor' among Cosa Nostra members, because he was once a PE teacher in Italy.

Rancadore was a member of a powerful Mafia family running organised crime in the north of Sicily.

He was convicted of extortion and other serious crimes and was head of the family in Trabia, around 30km from the Sicilian capital Palermo.

When police arrived at his home at around 7pm yesterday, he tried to flee through the back door of his home, but came face to face with a waiting detective constable.

Today, as he appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court, District Judge Quentin Purdy said: ‘The warrant may be such as has to be discharged. There are concerns about the validity of the warrant that has come before the court.’

Euan Macmillan, defending, agreed that there were ‘significant deficiencies’ with the document.

He added: 'His life is here, his family is here, his community ties are here. His wife is the principal bread winner in the family and he has to all intents and purposes been a house husband since he has been in this jurisdiction.'

The judge remanded Rancadore in custody until a hearing tomorrow at 2pm, when he will decide whether the Italian can be released on bail.

A LITTLE ABOUT COSA NOSTRA: SICILY'S MAFIA STILL STRONG WITH 4,000 FULL MEMBERS

The Sicilian Mafia, or Cosa Nostra, which translates into English as 'Our Thing', emerged in the mid-19th century and is still going strong.

It is not one single organisation, instead it is made up of around 100 families who each run a territory on the island, either a district of a city, a town or a few villages.

Its stronghold is Palermo, the capital of the Sicilian region, and the areas surrounding it, where at least half of all members are based.

Their power grew from protection, racketeering and extortion, because of the number of traders and landowners there to exploit.

In more recent times, much of their money has come from the smuggling of cigarettes and drugs like heroin to Europe and America.

In the post-war era the Italian authorities fought against the Mafia, but even after a series of huge court cases the families couldn't be broken.

According to Francesco Messineo, the Chief Prosecutor of Palermo, there are still 94 Mafia families on Sicily, with between 3,500 to 4,000 mobsters.