A violent prisoner serving a life sentence who absconded from an open jail is being hunted by police in connection with a rape in Scotland.
Lee Cyrus, who is also known as Ivan Leach, is wanted for questioning by officers investigating an attack on a 23-year-old woman in Perth days after the prisoner disappeared during day release from jail.
Tayside Police did not formally link him with the inquiry into the serious sex attack in Perth last week, but warned the public not to approach him.
Cyrus, 47, went missing from North Sea Camp in Boston, Lincolnshire, on October 9 after being allowed out into the community.
He poses a danger to the public and it is believed he had been in the force area since going on the run.
It is understood that CCTV images taken in the area near the rape victim's flat have been analysed and show a man fitting the description of Cyrus.
The woman was in bed asleep when she was woken and subjected to a serious sex attack by an intruder around midnight on Monday, October 15.
Before she reported the attack to police, someone had entered her home the following day and removed the king-sized mattress.
The development comes after a specialist police underwater dive team on Monday recovered a mattress from the River Tay, close to the woman's home.
A police spokesman said: "Tayside Police is appealing for information about the where-abouts of Preston man Lee Cyrus, also known as Ivan Leach, 47, who is believed to have been in the Tayside area.
"Cyrus went missing on Tuesday, October 9, from North Sea Camp, Boston, after day release from the open prison in Lincolnshire.
"He is currently serving a life sentence for robbery and has previously resided in Lancashire, having lived mostly in the Preston area, but he has also stayed in Blackburn.
"We believe Cyrus has been, and could possibly still be, in the Tayside area. We would ask members of the public to be vigilant and not to approach him but report any sightings to the police. Any information members of the public can provide could be crucial to apprehending this man."
Cyrus is described as being white, around 5ft 11in tall, of stocky build with cropped hair and hazel eyes.
Anyone with information as to his current whereabouts should contact Tayside Police on 0300 111 2222 or speak to any police officer.
The 23-year-old victim was attacked by an intruder who had entered her home in Potterhill Gardens.
The attacker was described as wearing a navy-coloured scarf, a dark-coloured beanie hat, a black jacket, a grey jumper, khaki green waterproof trousers and a black belt.
He also wore khaki green boots and spoke with an English accent. Acting Detective Inspector Marc Lorente said police were not ruling out any connection with other break-ins to homes in the same part of Perth in the past 10 days.
Inquiries are also continuing into an incident in nearby Bridgend Court at about 7.30pm on October 14, when a 68-year-old woman was assaulted and robbed in her own home.
Det Insp Lorente added: "A householder in the Dundee Road area of Perth came forward, following publicity, to confirm that belongings had been taken during a recent sneak-in theft at their address in the city.
"Officers have not ruled out the possibility that this crime is connected to other recent incidents in the Potterhill, Bridgend area of Perth."
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