Missing murderer Raymond McCourt caught on Edinburgh bus
A convicted murderer who went on the run from an open prison in Dundee has been found in Edinburgh.Raymond McCourt was arrested by plain clothes officers after being removed from a Lothian Bus in the city's London Road area on Friday morning.McCourt had previously been seen on Duke Street in Glasgow on Tuesday after being reported missing from HMP Castle Huntly.The 59-year-old was jailed in 1993 after murdering shopkeeper Khalid Mahmood in Cambuslang, Lanarkshire.
An eyewitness told BBC Scotland news McCourt was "surrounded" by six officers when he was asked to step off the number five service close to the junction with Leith Walk.It is thought he boarded the bus in the Abbeyhill area minutes earlier.Passengers saw him being searched by plan clothes and uniformed officers before the bus was allowed to move on.
Police Scotland had warned the public not to approach McCourt.The alarm had been raised on Tuesday evening after he did not return to prison following a period of leave.
McCourt was jailed for the shooting of Khalid Mahmood at the age of 27.He was released on licence in 2015, but was returned to prison after stealing valuables from his partner in Alyth, Perthshire.He used the money to pay for a holiday to Blackpool before being tracked down by police.McCourt told officers he was struggling to cope with life outside prison and had stolen the items to have a blow-out prior to his return to jail.He was given a further 10-month sentence for that crime and returned to prison on his life term for murder.
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