Faces of evil: Scots top UK's most-wanted list

Published on Monday 21 February 2011 13:36

TWO Scots wanted in connection with unsolved murders - including the gunning down of Glasgow gangster Kevin "Gerbil" Carroll - are believed to be hiding out in Spain, it was revealed yesterday.

William Paterson, 31, and Derek McGraw Ferguson, 47, both from Glasgow, have been featured on a list of ten of the "most wanted" suspected criminals collated by Crimestoppers and the Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca), as part of Operation Captura, an international police effort to trace criminals who have fled to Spain.

Police want to trace Paterson over the murder of Kevin Carroll in an Asda supermarket car park in Robroyston, Glasgow, last year.

He is described as being 6ft 1in, with red hair and blue eyes. He goes by the nicknames Buff or Billy.

Ferguson is wanted over the murder of Thomas Cameron at a pub in Bishopbriggs in June 2007.

He is described as being 5ft 2in with short brown balding hair. He has tattoos of a heart, arrow and dagger on his left arm, while part of his left ear is missing.

Scottish police are also interested in tracing a third man on the list, Andrew Mark Spooner, 41, of Leicester, who failed to appear at Glasgow High Court to face drug charges in 2001.

Speaking at a press conference to reveal the list yesterday, Paul Stanfield, Scottish regional manager for Soca, said: "These are very dangerous offences these men have committed.

"We are warning the public not to approach these people but to call us immediately with any information.

"The Costa del Sol has been seen since the 1980s as a safe place to hide out, for the same reasons people go there on holiday.

"There are good package deals to Spain and a large expat community so they decide to head there. We hope that expat community can tell us where they are."

He insisted, however, that the criminal world's perception of Spain as a safe haven was outdated and that if they were discovered and captured, then extradition back to the UK to face justice would follow swiftly.

• Who's who in the hall of shame

Mr Stanfield said of Paterson and Ferguson: "They are now wanted fugitives, who are asked that they give themselves up to the police. It can't be a nice life, looking over your shoulder for the rest of the coming years, always thinking that the police are behind you, coming for you. We certainly won't stop until these people are brought to justice."

It is suspected that hundreds of criminals are at liberty in Spain, fleeing the UK before they can be named in a police warrant and barred from leaving. The ten men named yesterday are wanted for in connection with a wide range of crimes, including drug smuggling, murder, and child sex offences.

Among those on the list is Antony Fraser, the grandson of notorious London gangster "Mad" Frankie Fraser, who is wanted in connection with the smuggling of two tonnes cannabis into the UK from Holland in 2009.

Kate Johnston, the national manager for Crimestoppers, stressed how dangerous these men are and the role of the public in helping to find them.

She said: "The crimes they've committed are very serious crimes, we'd much rather these people are brought back to face the justice they deserve."Following a previous appeal for information to catch fugitive criminals, more than 500 pieces of "useful information" were received. Of 50 people named, 38 were apprehended.

EARLY SIGNS

IT may be possible to spot future criminals by looking at babies' brains, an expert has claimed.

Traits predicting anti-social behaviour and criminality can be seen in the brains of children as young as six months, said psychologist Dr Adrian Raine.

One was an abnormality affecting the limbic system. It showed up in six-month-old babies who as adults committed more crimes and displayed more signs of psychopathy and anti-social behaviour than unaffected individuals. Three-year-olds with a poorly functioning amygdala were also more likely to commit crime 20 years later, said Dr Raine, a former Home Office scientist now at the University of Pennsylvania.