A convicted murderer who escaped from prison guards during a hospital visit has been recaptured.
George McGeoch threatened security staff and disappeared from Perth Royal Infirmary on Tuesday afternoon.
It has been claimed that he locked two Reliance officers in their van and that police had to free them from the vehicle when they arrived at the scene.
Tayside Police said the 36-year-old had been arrested after being spotted by a patrol at 0730 GMT in Perth.
McGeoch, who is serving a life sentence for offences including murder and abduction, had been attending a planned appointment when he escaped.
The Scottish Prison Service said it had launched an investigation.
Police described the arrest as "pretty smooth", given the high-risk nature of the prisoner.
"The urgent inquiry into his escape must answer such questions as whether he was handcuffed and if not, why not"
Insp Alistair Black said McGeoch, from Glasgow, had been spotted at the junction of Dunkeld Road and Gowans Terrace.
"He was coming up to the junction and the police patrol sighted him. Basically, they challenged him and he was arrested."
McGeoch was jailed for life at the High Court in Inverness in April 1999 for murdering Eric Innes, 61. He was sentenced to a minimum of 13 years.
A spokesman for Reliance welcomed the news that McGeoch had been recaptured and added: "We are continuing to cooperate fully with Tayside Police and the Scottish Prison Service in investigating the circumstance of this escape."
Roseanna Cunningham, SNP MSP for Perth, said the incident raised a number of questions.
She said: "Tayside Police are to be congratulated on the speed with which he was recaptured and particular thanks must go to the officers on patrol who spotted and apprehended him.
"But the bottom line is that he should not have been allowed to escape in the first place.
"Now that he is safely behind bars the attention of the authorities must turn to investigating the circumstances of his escape.
"Once more, this situation calls into question the reliability of Reliance and raises the question of whether it is appropriate or desirable for a private security company to be responsible for escorting criminals like this."
Conservative justice spokesman Bill Aitken said: "The public will wonder how it is physically possible for such escapes to happen and how easily lives can be put at risk.
"The urgent inquiry into his escape must answer such questions as whether he was handcuffed and, if not, why not?"
McGeoch is due at Perth Sheriff Court on Thursday.
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