A “missing” man who was last seen leaving a train in Perthshire has been revealed as a sex offender on the run.
Police issued an appeal last week to residents in and around Dunkeld and Birnam for help in tracing Coen Bust, 47.
He was last seen leaving a train at the Highland Perthshire station on Thursday March 13.
At the time, police said they were keen to trace Bust, from Edinburgh, “as soon as possible” – and simply said he had been “reported missing”.
They made a plea for locals to check for CCTV or dashcam footage that might help in tracking him down.
But it has now emerged that Bust fled on the day he was due to be sentenced in court after being caught in an online paedophile sting.
This information was never revealed by Police Scotland in two separate appeals.
Missing man Coen Bust fled on day he was due to be sentenced
Bust had been due to appear at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on March 13 to be sentenced for sending messages to who he believed was a 14-year-old schoolgirl.
He used the name Buttery Robot to make contact with a profile in the name of Sophie on a forum before he moved the messaging to the Snapchat app in August 2023.
But the Dutch national was actually speaking to an undercover police officer who was working online in a bid to snare child sex offenders.
Bust pled guilty to the offence on January 30 this year and was placed on the sex offenders register on an interim basis by Sheriff Wendy Sheehan.
He was due to be sentenced on March 13 but did not attend and the hearing was continued to Thursday last week.
However, when the case called again, defence agent Ross Gardner described his client as “a missing person” and Sheriff Sheehan said she was issuing a non-appearance warrant for his arrest.
He was last seen getting off a train at Dunkeld railway station at 10.18am on March 13.
As of Friday (March 21) there had been no further sightings of him.
Police plea for CCTV or dashcam footage in hunt for sex offender
In a statement issued on Friday – which made no reference to Bust’s conviction – Inspector Alison Lawrie said: “We want to trace Coen Bust as quickly as possible and I would ask anyone with any information to please contact Police Scotland.
“If you have private CCTV footage in the Dunkeld or Birnam areas or dashcam footage from the areas surrounding Dunkeld or Birnam around the time Mr Coen was in Dunkeld, please review it and contact us with anything relevant.
“No matter how small it may seem, it may help us find him.“I am also appealing directly to Mr Bust himself to get in touch with the police.
“If you can help, please call Police Scotland on 101, quoting reference number 2616 of Thursday March 13.”
