Detectives are closing in on a violent Leeds fugitive who has been on the run abroad for the last six years.
Police hunting escaped prisoner Brian Waite, from Gipton, say he has been back in the UK – and could well have returned to his home city as his family still lives in the area.
They have also issued a direct appeal to unwitting doctors in this country who may have treated the 42-year-old under a fake identity.
Det Insp Neil Hollis, of West Yorkshire’s crime division, said: “Waite has been on the run for almost six years now and we are making every effort to locate him.
“We have reasons to believe he is committing further crimes and is using other people’s identities to travel between countries.
“We also believe he is receiving medical treatment within the UK and would like to appeal to the medical profession to help us in the search for this man.”
Waite was part of a gang that was involved in the £25,000 robbery of a Securicor van in Cardiff before torching the vehicle to destroy forensic evidence.
He was jailed for 11 years for robbery, arson and handling stolen goods in 2003.
But he disappeared from North Sea Camp Prison in Lincolnshire on November 30, 2006, and is believed to have been living in Spain and the Netherlands since then.
He is thought to have continued his crime spree while on the run.
In 2010 the Crimestoppers charity named Waite – who uses the aliases Michael Birch and Anthony Waite – in a list of six “most wanted” suspects being hunted in the Netherlands.
Although Waite’s crime was in Wales, West Yorkshire Police is leading the search for him because of his strong links to Leeds.
They have now obtained a new picture of him from a passport he is known to have used to return to the UK.
Waite is white, 5ft 11ins tall, of medium build with green eyes. Anyone with information should contact West Yorkshire Police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.