Missing offender a double rapist

Finlay is a convicted double rapist

A sex offender being hunted by police after he broke his prison release conditions has two convictions for rape, it has emerged.

Ernest George Finlay, 53, from Aughnacloy in County Tyrone, is in the highest category risk bracket and was last seen on Saturday.

Finlay was jailed for raping a 17-year-old girl and committed a second rape on his release.

On another occasion he was returned to jail for breaching his conditions.

He also has a number of convictions for other sex offences.

Nick Carson of the Public Protection Arrangements NI defended the way Finlay had been monitored.

"The particular individual has decided, of his own volition, not to comply with his post-release conditions," he said.

"Let me stress again that the individual served his time in prison according to the laws of the land as they existed at that particular time.

"We have compliance with these arrangements of over 98%, they're internationally acknowledged as being amongst the best available in the world today."

It is understood Finlay had recently been living in the Aughnacloy area.

Members of the public have been urged not to approach him, but to contact the police immediately.

The police have appealed for him to hand himself in at a police station.

He is described as being about 5ft 8ins, of medium build, with blue eyes and brown hair.

He also has a small gap between his upper two front teeth and has several tattoos, three on his arms, among them a picture of a horse's head.