Scottish Government believes sex offenders fled overseas

Nine convicted sex offenders were thought to have fled overseas despite supposedly being monitored by authorities, the Scottish Government has revealed.

Justice secretary Kenny MacAskill has confirmed 10 registered sex offenders were marked “missing” in September, nine of whom were “believed to be abroad”.

The figures obtained by the Scottish Conservatives also revealed there have been a total of 247 breaches of sexual offences prevention orders since 2008, with 52 instances last year.

Tory justice spokeswoman, Margaret Mitchell, said: “The SNP says tracking of sex offenders in Scotland is among the most stringent anywhere, but these figures tell us a different story.

“Once an offender has escaped the watch of authorities here, there isn’t much to stop them re-embarking on the insidious and dangerous behaviour that brought them to the attention of police in the first place.”