BEAST ON THE RUN
Police search for sex offender who has been missing for three weeks - but they refuse to warn the public fugutive is on loose
A SEX offender being hunted by police has been missing for at least three weeks, we can reveal today.
Force chiefs are refusing to tell the public any details about the pervert other than that they disappeared from Scotland some time last month and that they are
at large somewhere across the UK.
Detectives have been unable to track the registered sex offender (RSO) down and are in a race against time to detain them before they strike again or slip out of the country.
Since the beast went missing, Police Scotland have appealed for the public’s help in tracing, among other things, an electrical cable stolen in Dalkeith, Midlothian, and a digger taken from Annan, Dumfriesshire.
The force have also published a CCTV image of a football fan wanted for throwing a coin at a Raith Rovers match and released a description of a man suspected of taking a handbag from a Subway shop in Dumfries.
However, they are refusing to ask for the public’s help in finding the pervert, or even reveal their gender, despite appeals seeing cases cracked within hours.
Campaigner Margaret-Ann Cummings, whose son Mark, eight, was killed by a convicted paedophile in Glasgow in 2004, said: “There’s a reason why the police put out appeals to catch handbag snatchers and petty thieves – it’s because they work.
“So why is it more urgent to catch somebody who chucked a coin six months ago than a sex offender who’s on the run?
“Police Scotland have their priorities badly wrong.
“No matter how hard they work, officers can’t keep an eye on 4000 RSOs, but communities understand that and they want to help and play their part in keeping themselves safe.
“By keeping people in the dark about this sex offender, the force are eroding trust and goodwill.
“Every day this criminal is on the loose, it is putting people’s safety in danger and that is unforgiveable.
“I hope and pray they’re caught before they offend again.”
There are 3992 RSOs living in the community in Scotland.
They have to register details with police every year but must let the force know of a change of address within 72 hours.
As part of a monitoring regime, they will be visited by officers or social workers and some may have additional restrictions limiting contact with children, computers or public spaces.
A dozen RSOs are currently on a wanted list. Three went off the radar in August alone, with 11 believed to have fled abroad.
In July, we told how Crown Office lawyers refused Police Scotland permission to make a public appeal to catch a fugitive sex offender. He later fled abroad.
There have been several cases where the public’s help has proved invaluable in tracking down wanted sex offenders.
In 2015, teachers were warned to watch out for on-the-run paedophile Paul Vernon, who was hiding out near Oban, Argyll.
Parents knew nothing until we published his photo. Vernon was picked up within hours thanks to a Record reader’s tip-off.
A year earlier, Police Scotland were slated for waiting 11 weeks to reveal that Lorcan Halton, 45, had vanished from Glasgow.
He had previously been jailed for lewd and libidinous behaviour towards young girls and was due in court again. Halton was picked up in Cavan, Ireland, within 48 hours of the public appeal.
Following Mark Cummings’s murder, the Scottish Parliament set up a committee of MSPs to look at how sex offenders could be better managed.
They recommended in 2006 that details of on-the-run sex offenders “should be provided to local communities and made available more widely, including the use of internet websites”.
Similar systems are in use in the US and Western Australia – but not in Scotland.
Scottish Government guidance also states that, when RSOs disappear, “the matter should be treated with the appropriate urgency and seriousness” and that “all possible enquiries” should be made to trace them.
Labour’s justice spokeswoman Claire Baker said: “It is worth asking why the police won’t issue a public appeal in this case.
“Sex offenders present a risk to the public and it is vital that they are properly monitored. This situation raises concerns that must be addressed.”
Police Scotland refused to give us any details about the offender. A spokesman said: “Protecting the public is a top priority.
“Releasing information in relation to an RSO where it is assessed that the threat to public safety is low would neither be justified nor proportionate.
“Such a decision is constantly reviewed throughout the course of inquiries until such time that they are apprehended or their whereabouts established.”