Lee Cyrus hunt: Hundreds of police in search for escaped ‘rapist’

By FRANK URQUHART
Published on 31/10/2012 10:10

POLICE forces across Scotland yesterday stepped up their hunt for a dangerous and predatory fugitive who is being sought in connection with a rape in Perth.

• Lee Cyrus, also known as Ivan Leach has been on the run on Scotland since absconding from North Sea Camp open prison in Lincolnshire earlier this month

• Tayside Police are seeking the man in connection with a serious sex assault in Perth on 15 October

• Grampian Police refusing to rule out link with rape of 22-year-old woman in Powis area of the city

• The public have been warned not to approach Cyrus/Leach as he poses a ‘significant risk’

Lee Cyrus, 47, who was serving a life sentence for a brutal robbery, has been on the run since he absconded from an open prison in Lincolnshire three weeks ago.

Grampian Police have also not ruled out a link between Cyrus and the “vicious” rape of a 22-year-old woman in Aberdeen. A total of 135 officers are now involved in the search for the Aberdeen rapist, who struck in broad daylight in the Powis area of the city on Saturday morning.

Cyrus is now being sought by hundreds of officers north and south of the Border.

Detective chief inspector Martin Dunn, who is heading the Grampian Police investigation, said detectives had already visited more than 300 homes in the area and reviewed thousands of hours of CCTV footage from local shops, businesses and other premises.

DCI Dunn said: “This is one of the biggest investigations we have faced in Grampian in

recent years”

The hunt for Cyrus – also known as Ivan Leach – had spread to the Buchan area of Aberdeenshire yesterday following reports, later shown to be false, that he had been spotted near the coastal village of Boddam.

Chief Inspector Derek Hiley, of Grampian Police, said: “We are conducting all possible inquiries to establish whether Cyrus is, or has been, in the Grampian area in recent days.

“As with all other police forces in the UK, we are following up on all potential sightings of this dangerous individual.

“Until we can be certain that Cyrus is not, or has not been, in the Grampian area, I would urge members of the public to take all possible precautions to

ensure their safety.”

Angela Wilson, the assistant chief constable of Tayside Police, yesterday said that forces across Scotland and England were now united in an effort to track down the “dangerous” fugitive.

Wanted posters bearing a picture of Cyrus and a detailed description are being distributed to shops, community centres and bus and train stations across England and Scotland.

Ms Wilson said: “He is a dangerous individual and the public should rightly be concerned that he is at large. We would ask them to be alert, aware, vigilant and security-conscious. If you see him, contact the police immediately. He is not to be approached – that is a job for the police.”

Detective superintendent Paul Withers, from the major investigation team at Lancashire Constabulary, is leading the hunt for Cyrus in England.

He warned: “Whilst [Cyrus] remains at large he continues to pose a serious threat to members of the public.”

Cyrus is described as 5ft 11ins tall, of stocky build with cropped hair and hazel eyes. He has a distinctive scar on his top lip under his nose and two distinctive tattoos, one with the name “Annette” on the bicep of his left arm and a figure of a

barbarian woman on the back of his right shoulder blade.