A PRISONER has escaped from custody while on an escorted visit to a relative.
Police have warned Sean McGregor, 31, may be a danger to the public and should not be approached.
He escaped from G4S custody at about 1.45pm on Thursday while on escorted leave to visit a relative in Patna, East Ayrshire.
McGregor was imprisoned for four years for assault and robbery in September 2011. At the time he was serving 16 months for possession of a weapon, imposed in February 2011.
The Ayrshire area is being searched and officers are appealing for information about his whereabouts.
Detective Chief Inspector John Hogg, of Ayrshire CID, said: "I would advise that Mr McGregor may present a danger to the public and people are advised not to approach him if seen but to contact police. Officers are continuing with a search of the area, making contact with known associates and checking CCTV in an effort to trace Mr McGregor.
"I would appeal to Mr McGregor to give himself up and make contact with Police Scotland with a view to handing himself in. I would also like to reassure people that Police Scotland will have an increased high-profile police presence in the Ayrshire area until Mr McGregor is traced and arrested."
McGregor admitted assaulting a shop assistant and snatching hundreds of pounds from her till after brandishing a knife at her on January 18, 2011. When he was sentenced, the High Court in Edinburgh heard he had panicked when challenged by a customer, dropping cash and his knife as he tried to flee.
Lord Bannatyne said at the time that his record was "wholly dreadful".
A G4S spokesman said yesterday: "The prisoner was granted this special leave on licence which means he was authorised to be out of prison custody but subject to certain conditions.
"On-licence leave is a privilege that is earned. Therefore, it is disappointing the prisoner made the decision to undermine the trust placed in him.
"As is the normal procedure, a full report into the circumstances of the incident will be submitted to the Scottish Prison Service."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article