Unmasked as paedophile, Briton who fled through Channel Tunnel on foot
THE mystery intruder who walked almost the entire 31-mile length of the Channel Tunnel to France is a convicted paedophile.
Ryan Tyson Murrayland was held by French police after sneaking into the rail tunnel – one of the world’s longest – before Christmas.
Today, it can be disclosed today that the former prisoner is a child sex offender with a history of breaching bail conditions.
Murrayland, 31, from Manchester, was jailed in 2015 for committing sexual activity with a child.
In October 2019 police appealed for help in tracing him after he breached the conditions of his release from prison.
Murrayland had also failed to sign in at a police station under notification requirements imposed on sex offenders in the community. He was arrested in Blackpool and sent back to jail after spending more than two weeks on the run.
Weeks after he was freed at the beginning of this month, he was seen entering the Channel Tunnel illegally on foot in Kent.
It is understood he was spotted on CCTV near the mouth of the tunnel outside Folkestone. Murrayland was arrested by French authorities near the opposite end of the tunnel, at Coquelles, near Calais.
It is only the second known incident of its kind after Sudanese migrant Abdul Haroun, 40, walked the length of the Channel Tunnel from France in 2015.
Haroun was charged with obstructing a railway before being granted asylum in the UK a year later. Murrayland, who has also used the surname Murray-Land, appeared in court in France after his arrest on December 21.
He was charged with entering a railway without authorisation and refusing to comply with railway regulation. If convicted, he could be jailed for six months.
He refused to give his name and address to police, but is thought to have been identified using biometric details such as fingerprints.
At a court in Boulogne-sur-Mer on December 23 Murrayland was remanded in custody ahead of another hearing on February 1.
A French police source said: ‘He was heading to France from England, and presenting a clear danger to all tunnel users, including himself. He was running so as to get to France as soon as possible.’
Damian Collins, the Conservative MP for Folkestone and Hythe, said: I’m glad that the trespasser was caught before a nasty accident could happen, although I understand not before causing consider
‘I used to call him Dracula’
able disruption and loss in revenue to Eurotunnel. This is a very rare incident. It could have been a lot worse. I hope security checks will be stepped up on both sides to prevent a recurrence.’
Alp Mehmet, chairman of Migration Watch UK, which campaigns for tougher border controls, said: ‘It seems our borders remain as porous as ever.
‘This breach of security shows how desperate the need is for investment in immigration control.’
In May 2016 Murrayland, then 26, was recalled to jail after taking police on a car chase through Blackpool after failing to stop.
Exceeding the speed limit through narrow roads, he went through five Give Way junctions before eventually fleeing a Vauxhall Corsa.
Police found him hiding nearby with £1,000 in cash in his pockets, Preston Crown Court heard.
He was returned to jail to continue serving a sentence for an unspecified offence.
He was also handed a 12-month sentence – to run concurrently – for what Judge Stuart Baker described as a ‘ prolonged piece of bad driving and a deliberate attempt to evade police’.
A Ministry of Justice spokesman said he was not under any probation or reporting conditions after his most recent jail term.
French reports that he was an escaped prisoner were incorrect.
Murrayland grew up in Mereside, Blackpool, where he lived with his mother and sister.
One neighbour said last night: ‘I used to call him Dracula because he only ever came out at night.’
A spokesman for the tunnel operator Getlink said: ‘ Eurotunnel can confirm a person was detected in the Channel Tunnel and taken into custody by the French authorities. As there is a criminal procedure we are unable to comment further.’