‘Most wanted’ thug stabbed and slashed 2 women, so why did they let him go free?

A FOREIGN criminal branded one of the UK’s ‘most wanted’ offenders was finally snared in Scotland after an international manhunt lasting more than a decade – only to be inexplicably set free.

In a case highlighting the justice system’s failure to protect the public, Romanian knife thug Adrian Vasilescu is back on the run.

The 42-year-old, wanted in his homeland for slashing a woman’s throat with a broken bottle, featured in a 2011 Crimestoppers list of dangerous fugitives living in Britain.

In 2020 he was arrested by Scottish police probing the attempted murder of a woman he had repeatedly stabbed in a Paisley flat.

Astonishingly, he was freed from custody and granted bail – even though he was a known flight risk who had previously been caught trying to flee from the UK.

Last week he was due to be sentenced at the High Court in Paisley for the knife attack. But court officials admitted he had disappeared again. Meanwhile, he is still wanted by police in his native Romania. Critics last night said the ‘farcical’ case showed how the public were being put in danger.

Scottish Tory community safety spokesman Russell Findlay said: ‘It’s staggering that a highly dangerous criminal with such a long history of going on the run should be bailed. Given his background it comes as no surprise he has now vanished again – putting innocent members of the public at risk.

‘Far too many dangerous offenders are being bailed. However, the SNP’s proposed soft-touch bail law can only make this even worse.’

In 2007, Vasilescu slashed a woman’s throat before he fled to the UK.

In October 2011, he appeared on Crimestoppers’ list of 14 of the most dangerous foreign suspects being hunted by Scotland Yard.

It included a serial killer as well as murderers and rapists who had committed crimes in Romania, Poland, Albania and Georgia. Vasilescu was tracked down in London in November 2011 and detained.

He appeared in court and was granted bail after being ordered to surrender his passport. He was also told to check in at a police station every day but went on the run and vanished for nearly a decade.

Having fled to Scotland, Vasilescu came to the attention of police again in July 2020 when he tried to kill his girlfriend, Oana Clapotura, in a Paisley flat. The thug repeatedly stabbed her, leaving her severely injured and permanently scarred.

He then tried to escape to France using the Channel Tunnel but was arrested at Folkestone in Kent.

Sent back to Scotland, Vasilescu was detained and charged with attempted murder and attempting to pervert the course of justice.

He appeared at Paisley Sheriff Court before Sheriff Sukhwinder Gill – who granted him bail.

When a trial began at the High Court in Paisley, Vasilescu pleaded not guilty and even gave evidence.

But he absconded before the end of the case. A judge issued a warrant for his arrest – then found him guilty in his absence.

He was due to be sentenced last Tuesday but failed to show up. A Judiciary of Scotland spokesman said: ‘In considering whether or not to grant bail the sheriff must take into account what is put to the court by the Crown and by the defence.’

‘Innocent members of the public put at risk’