KNIFEMAN ON RUN FOR 4TH TIME IN 8YRS
Hunt for serial escaper who wed Carstairs nurse
A KNIFEMAN is on the run from a secure psychiatric unit for the fourth time in eight years.
Paul Brownlie, 38, absconded on Wednesday during escorted leave from Edinburgh’s Orchard Clinic.
He is described as 6ft 1in, of medium build, with short brown hair. He was wearing jeans, a green T-shirt, white jumper and navy blue trainers when last seen.
The Scottish Government said he was not considered a high risk to the public but advised people not to approach him and to call police if they saw him.
Brownlie, who has schizophrenia, was first detained in hospital aged 17 after a drug-fuelled knife attack. He was ordered to be held until deemed fit to re-enter the community.
He began a relationship with a nurse, Claire Lee, in the State Hospital at Carstairs, and first absconded in 2010 when the affair was discovered.
He married Lee the following year at the hospital, with none of her family in attendance.
She was struck off as a nurse after sending him topless photos of herself, and it’s understood they divorced in 2014.
Brownlie went on the run again in 2014, this time from the Rohallion secure unit at Murray Royal Hospital in Perth, then absconded from the Orchard Clinic in 2014.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “If anyone sees this man, or has any information regarding his whereabouts, they should contact Police Scotland on 101.”