Monitored sex offenders 'missing'

Paedophile Martin Cusick has been missing for more than two years

A total of 27 convicted sex offenders are missing from Scotland's monitoring regime, it has emerged.

Police stressed that the figures could vary from day to day, with some offenders missing at times for just a few hours.

Some of the missing 27 sex offenders may have gone abroad to their home countries, police said.

Among those being hunted is paedophile Martin Cusick, a former police officer, who has been missing since 2005.

A spokesman for the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (Acpos) said the public should be reassured that all the sex offenders had not been missing for long periods of time - in some cases they had just changed address.

Working closely

Others could be tracked down within hours of their breaching monitoring conditions.

There are more than 3,500 registered sex offenders living in the community in Scotland.

This week, Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill said he wanted to see the number of missing sex offenders published routinely, from this autumn.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: "As the justice secretary said this week, we've been working closely with criminal justice agencies to provide a strengthened regime for the management of sex offenders in our communities - the vast majority of whom comply with the conditions placed on them.

"The past year has seen a formal police warning/targeted disclosure system introduced for those offenders who ignore warnings about their behaviour and a national agreement allowing police to put details of high-risk missing child sex offenders on the Crimestoppers 'most wanted' site.

"With these measures and the MAPPAs (Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements) now in place, it's right that the public has greater access to information about how these arrangements operate - as well as advice on the risks posed by sex offenders and how these can be minimised and the community safety enhanced."