Sword maniac on the run in capital

AVIOLENT criminal who was jailed for slashing a man with a samurai sword is on the run after absconding from an Edinburgh clinic. Lee Brown, a Saughton prison inmate, was receiving treatment at the Lauriston Place clinic when he escaped guards yesterday afternoon.

Police were today continuing to hunt the 30-year-old convict, and officers have warned the public not to approach him.

Among Brown's list of offences is an attack in 2004 at his former girlfriend's home, which saw him jailed for ten years after attacking a man with a sword.

Brown is understood to have given his Reliance guards the slip while he was visiting the clinic to undergo dermatology treatment.

Residents described police cars swarming around the clinic in the minutes after he made his escape.

In February 2004, Brown burst into his former girlfriend's home and slashed a man with a samurai sword, an attack which later saw him jailed for 10 years.

Brown, also urged his teenage brother to stab Eric Martin after he found him in bed with Stacy Love, 26. The elder Brown returned to the house in Cobblebrae Crescent, Falkirk, and attacked his ex-lover with a golf club.

A police spokesman said: "We would advise the public not to approach this individual, but instead contact police immediately."

The 30-year-old told the Reliance guards he’d stab them with the home-made weapon if they tried to stop him fleeing the Edinburgh clinic

Reliance — which faces a massive £20,000 fine for the escape — has been at the centre of controversy since it began escorting inmates in 2004. The firm let three cons abscond in their first week in charge.