By Graham Brown

A VIOLENT killer absconding from an Angus open jail has again thrust into the spotlight the difficult question of how to prepare long-term prisoners for life outside prison.

Yesterday, as brutal murderer John Bowden remained at large five days after failing to meet Noranside Prison staff following a shopping trip to Forfar, a former senior figure in the Scottish prison visiting set-up said communities and not criminals had to remain top of the priority list.

Ex-vice-convener of the Association of Visiting Committees for Scotland Ron Scrimgeour also aired doubts the screening system had done its job in allowing a prisoner with Bowden’s history to find his way to the Angus establishment.

At the end of last week, police issued a warning to the public not to approach Bowden (51), the day after he failed to report to a Forfar supermarket car park for collection following a regular shopping trip to the town.

The tattooed murderer received a life term at the Old Bailey in 1982 for the horrific killing of a park keeper, who he dismembered and then decapitated.

Bowden spent the first 13 years of his sentence in prison south of the border—during which time he reportedly went on the run while on a visit to his sick father.

In 1995, he was transferred to the Scottish Prison Service after striking up a relationship with a Scottish woman.

Yesterday an SPS spokesman said it was not unusual for prisoners to transfer between Scotland and England depending on the circumstances of requests.

The SPS also said police were informed immediately Bowden failed to return to custody on Thursday and the handling of the search for the murderer—who has served longer in jail than his actual stated 25-year prison term and who was due to go before a parole panel in England soon—was a matter for the police.

After time in closed conditions, Bowden was transferred to Noranside last year and it is believed he was preparing for life in the outside world at the Angus establishment’s independent living unit.

Prisoners with three to six months of their sentences left to serve live there in a less tightly controlled environment than in Noranside’s other blocks, readying themselves for release through things like preparing their own meals.

They buy food on shopping trips in Forfar and it is thought Bowden may have been on one such outing when he fled.

Police have warned the public not to approach Bowden but to call 999 with any sightings.

Inquiries to trace the lifer have included searching footage from Forfar’s CCTV system and monitoring bus and rail stations.

Police also issued a full description of Bowden, who when last seen was wearing blue prison issue jeans.

He is 5ft 7in with grey/white receding hair, a fair complexion and deep-set blue eyes.

The killer’s right arm is tattooed with the words Ireland The Brave.

Yesterday Mr Scrimgeour, a former Forfar councillor who also chaired the joint visiting committee for the Scottish open estate at Noranside and Castle Huntly, said Bowden’s escape served to once again highlight an extremely complex issue.

“The first thing I would say is that I do believe very much that there is a place for open prisons, they are an exceptionally good way of completing part of the rehabilitation process,” said Mr Scrimgeour.

“But that process has to be carefully calculated and they (open prisons) are not for everyone.

“When something like this happens it obviously generates headlines and gives rise to many important questions.

“But we must remember that first and foremost it is not necessarily the prisoner’s wellbeing and comfort which is the key consideration, it is public safety within the local community and that is why situations like this raise so much concern,” Mr Scrimgeour added.

“At Noranside that local community takes in the area of Forfar, Brechin and Kirriemuir, and I can understand why concerns have been raised over this man absconding.

“What this man was convicted of was calculated and extreme, so one has to ask whether Noranside was the correct placement for this particular individual,” said Mr Scrim-geour.

“The fact that someone walks away just months before they are due to complete a 25-year sentence also raises many questions and was it the case that he was saying he could not cope?”

Mr Scrimgeour highlighted recent controversy surrounding absconder Robert Foye, who committed a rape in Cumbernauld while on the run from Castle Huntly.

He said that, between the headline-grabbing incidents, straight and honest talking should take place.

“Like many things, prisons are a political hot potato and very few MPs and MSPs are willing to take it on because there are so many complex issues involved.

“Candour and common-sense is required,” he added.

“That is why I can’t praise the staff at Noranside enough—with the ever-changing strategic policies of the Scottish Prison Service they have had to cope with a series of sometimes contradictory changes and have done so with great professionalism and credit.

“This is a very complex, multi-dimensional issue…but the whole criminal justice system must take the public and communities along with them.

“They are serving the community, not just the prisoners, and if they lose the confidence and trust of the community then that is a major problem,” said Mr Scrimgeour.