Appeal over missing sex offenders

Surjit Singh and Frank Mvula are both missing

Details of two convicted sex offenders who have gone missing have been released by Strathclyde Police.

Indian-born Surjit Singh, 62, and Malawi-born Frank Mvula, 26, both registered sex offenders, have failed to stay in contact with police.

Details of two other missing offenders were not being released, police said.

However, it emerged that Martin Cusick, a convicted paedophile missing for more than two years, had made contact with the police following a similar appeal.

The 52-year-old former policeman had contacted Strathclyde Police in the past few days and was now living in Canada.

The force had been criticised after it emerged that Cusick, from Clarkston on the outskirts of Glasgow, had been missing since October 2005.

He was jailed in for five years in 1996 for abusing three girls aged between six and 12. The police said they were in touch with the Canadian authorities with regard to the matter.

There are currently more than 3,500 registered sex offenders living in the community in Scotland - more than 1,100 of these are in the Strathclyde area.

At a news conference, police said Surjit Singh had been convicted of sexually aggravated assault in April 2005.

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

He was given a two month prison sentence and placed on the sex offenders register.

After his release he lived at an address in England for a short time before indicating his intention to return to Glasgow.

But he never registered in the Strathclyde force area and inquiries have been ongoing both in Britain and abroad in an effort to trace him.

Frank Mvula was convicted of indecent assault in March 2004.

He was released, pending appeal in January 2005 and placed on the sex offenders register.

He was living at an address in Glasgow but in February 2006 it came to light he was missing from his registered address.

Police have been trying to trace him in the UK and abroad.

Strathclyde Police said they wanted to speak to anyone who may have seen both men, though they believed they may now be abroad.