Escaped murderer George McGeoch is recaptured

Published on Wednesday 20 February 2008 09:31

AN "extremely dangerous" murderer was recaptured today after escaping from prison guards during a hospital appointment.

George McGeoch, 36, gave security staff the slip on a visit to Perth Royal Infirmary yesterday afternoon after threatening them with a knife.

Tayside Police said he was arrested this morning after being spotted by a police patrol at 7.30am in Perth.

McGeoch, from Glasgow, was spotted on foot by the patrol at the junction of the town's Dunkeld Road and Gowans Terrace.

The officers challenged him and he was arrested without a violent struggle. Police described the arrest as "pretty smooth", given the high-risk nature of the prisoner.

Inspector Alistair Black said: "We can confirm that he has been recaptured.

"He was sighted at the junction of Dunkeld Road and Gowans Terrace about 7.30am this morning by a police patrol.

"He was coming up to the junction and the police patrol sighted him. Basically, they challenged him and he was arrested."

A report will be submitted to the procurator fiscal.

A Tayside Police spokesman had described him as "extremely dangerous" and warned: "He should not be approached if seen by any member of the public."

He was jailed for life at the High Court in Inverness in April 1999 for murdering Eric Innes, 61. He was sentenced to 13 years.

McGeoch kicked and stamped on his victim, before smothering him and slitting his throat after being invited into his house for a drink.

He met the bakery worker in a chance encounter in Inverness in September 1998.

In 2001, he took two prison officers hostage at Edinburgh's Saughton Prison. He armed himself with a razor and held Ronnie Blatt, 42, and Linda Johnson, 34.

The stand-off ended when one of the nurses managed to overpower him and prison staff stormed the cell.

He received a further eight-year sentence at the High Court in Edinburgh.

And in May last year, he was found guilty of assaulting convicted rapist Peter Docherty in a recreation room at Dumfries Prison.

For this, he was sentenced to a further three years in jail.