Police seek 'very dangerous' murderer who fled Scotland

Detectives hunting for a Scottish man who raped and murdered an 87-year-old woman believe he is in southern England.

Richard Crawford, who was convicted two years ago of the killing, and of attempting to rape a 79-year-old woman, was described by police as a "very dangerous man".

Crawford, 41, from Paisley, near Glasgow, was released on bail in December last year pending an appeal against conviction but went on the run six weeks ago, just as he was due to attend a High Court hearing in Edinburgh.

Detective Chief Inspector Donald McQuaid said: "Our intelligence suggests that Crawford is now living and working in the Brighton area."

Crawford, who is described as about 5ft 10in tall with brown hair, deep-set eyes and several distinctive tattoos on each arm, was jailed for life in February 2000 for the murder and rape of Mary Lynch and sentenced to eight years for the attempted rape of another woman. Both were attacked in their homes in the Ferguslie Park area of Paisley in 1987.

The court heard that six months after attacking the 79-year-old, Crawford broke into Mrs Lynch's home on Christmas Eve 1987, as she returned from the funeral of her son, and raped her, causing such severe injuries that she died a week later. He was released on bail after his lawyers argued that the DNA samples used as the basis of the prosecution case against him should have been ruled inadmissible in court as they were gathered in connection with another offence.

The samples were taken during a drugs raid on his home three years ago. It was only when the information was run through a national database that they were found to match evidence linking him to the attacks 13 years earlier.