|
A HUNT has been launched for a murderer described as a danger to lone women who has gone to ground after being released from prison on a lifelong supervision order.
Jack Roy, 37, has broken off contact with police and social workers in Edinburgh as concerns began to emerge over his behaviour.
Fears surrounding Roy - who stabbed a woman to death in a horrific sexual attack on a train 21 years ago - led police to ask Cathy Jamieson, the justice minister, to revoke his licence and order his return to prison.
That order was granted yesterday and police then took the unusual step of issuing a public alert over Roy, whose whereabouts are now unknown.
In a statement, Lothian and Borders Police said Roy had been staying in the capital since being released from prison on lifelong licence in November 2005.
"On the basis of recent reports that raised concerns about the level of risk that Mr Roy poses, Scottish ministers decided that it was expedient in the public interest to revoke Mr Roy's licence and direct that he be returned to prison," the statement said.
"Roy's current whereabouts are unknown but he is known to have associates in Dundee and Glasgow, with family in the Bolton and Milton Keynes area.
"As Jack Roy is now considered as a high risk to members of the public, particularly lone females, Lothian and Borders Police are requesting that anyone with knowledge of his whereabouts do not approach him but contact Lothian and Borders Police."
Last night, it emerged that Roy had been attending fortnightly meetings with social workers. Police were alerted after he failed to attend a scheduled meeting on 13 October. It is unclear whether the police have been able to contact Roy since then.
Roy, from Glasgow, was only 15 when he carried out the attack on Janet Maddocks on a train in 1985.
Her stabbed and mutilated body was thrown on to the railway line outside Northampton.
His trial heard that Roy had demanded money from Mrs Maddocks and brandished a knife. He killed her, then stabbed her repeatedly around her private parts.
Police sifted through more than 3,000 tickets handed in at stations between Rugby and Glasgow to find the bloodstained one that had been used by Roy. He was arrested in Glasgow eight days later.
Peter Gabbitas, director of health and social care at Edinburgh city council, confirmed that the authorities had been alerted after Roy failed to attend the 13 October meeting.
| 
