Missing man is a convicted murderer
LocalTories say police should have told public
Stirling Conservatives say police should have told the public missing Plean man Brian McGowan was a convicted murderer.
Officers are asking people to search their sheds and gardens as they bid to trace the 42-year-old who hasn’t been seen for almost three weeks.
He was last seen in the Gillespie Terrace area at around 4pm on Thursday, September 21, and enquiries revealed a probably sighting in the Gallamuir Drive area at around 1.30am the following morning.
McGowan was jailed for life in 1994 for the murder of 54-year-old St Ninians man Andrew “Addie” Robertson.
He served 16 years in jail before being transferred to Castle Huntly open prison in May 2011.
He absconded when he failed to return from five days’ leave, and after being arrested in Essex had six months added to his sentence – but has since been released.
A spokesperson for Stirling area Conservatives now says that police should have made members of the public aware of his conviction when asking for their assistance.
They said: “When making an appeal such as this the police should be up-front with the public.
“People will be angry this important piece of information has been left out.”
While McGowan will remain on licence for the rest of his life police say he is being treated simply as a missing person – and there are concerns for his welfare.
He is described as 5ft 10in tall, of slim build, with short dark hair and he speaks with a Stirling accent.
He has blue eyes and tattoos on his fingers.
He was last seen wearing a black baseball cap, a black G-Star jacket, grey Armani jumper and grey adidas tracksuit bottoms with black stripes. He also had on grey adidas Y3 trainers.
Inspector Donna Bryans said: “I would like to thank the local community who have come out to search for Brian and helped with our investigations so far.
“I would ask residents and visitors to Plean, as well as visitors to Plean Country Park, to be vigilant and report any sighting of anyone seen matching Brian’s description.
“Similarly, I would ask local residents to check their gardens and outhouses, as this may lead us to discovering Brian’s whereabouts.”
Anyone with information should contact Police Scotland via 101, quoting incident number 2186 of September 22.
The Observer reported on Wednesday November 30, 1994, that as McGowan, then aged 19, was jailed the victims’ relatives cheered in the High Court in Stirling.