Staff perform citizen's arrest on man they thought was Lee Cyrus

Lee Cyrus: The sex offender has been on the run since October 9.Lancashire Police

Shop staff performed a citizen's arrest on a man they mistakenly thought was escaped sex offender Lee Cyrus.

Peter Williamson was shopping in the Costcutter store in Arbroath's Montrose Road when he was the victim of mistaken identity.

The store's owner told the Evening Telegraph the man had visited several times and they had shown CCTV images to police, who said it could be Cyrus, also known as Ivan Leach.

Mr Williamson was detained by store staff who alerted police. When they arrived he was asked to remove his shirt to prove he was not Cyrus, who has prominent tattoos.

The 35-year-old, of Warddykes, Arbroath, said he was buying a can of beer and a packet of crisps when he was stopped and admitted he would have done the same as the staff and shoppers who stopped him.

He said: "I went to the shop for a can of beer and a packet of crisps. I went to pay for my stuff and the shop owner said 'Can I have a word with you' - so I walked through the back with him.

"He asked for my name but I refused to give it. He said 'have you got any ID on you?' and I said again what do you want with my name?

"He said I was on the wanted posters. I tried to leave the shop and one of the workers stopped me from going out. Then the police came in and did all their checks.

"It was horrible, all the customers were standing watching me. It was so embarrassing, people thinking I was a dangerous criminal. I was just an innocent person buying a can of beer.

""I didn't realise what was going on but now when I look at the posters I can see a wee bit of a resemblance."

Faisal Naseem, the shop owner, added: "Everything he was saying sounded like it was Cyrus. I didn't want to take any chances."

A Tayside Police spokeswoman said: "Tayside Police can confirm that officers attended at a shop in Arbroath at around 5.15pm on Wednesday following a reported sighting of absconder Lee Cyrus.

"It was quickly confirmed it was not him."

Cyrus has been on the run since October 9 after failing to return to North Sea Camp open prison in Lincolnshire.

He has been linked to two attacks on women in their homes in Perth. A 68-year-old woman was attacked and robbed at her home in the Bridgend area on October 14.

The following day a 23-year-old woman was woken and raped by an intruder at her home in the same part of town.

Two days later two schoolgirls were approached in Preston, Lancashire, by a man matching Cyrus's description who tried to entice them into sexual activity. He may have been captured on CCTV.

The last confirmed sighting of him was on October 19 in Preston.

Police forces across Scotland and England are working together in an effort to track him down and posters have been put up across the country.

Cyrus is serving a life sentence for robbery and in the past has committed a series of violent offences in his native Lancashire, including forcing his way into the home of a 90-year-old woman.

He is described as white, around 5ft 11in tall, of stocky build with a shaved head and hazel eyes.

He has a distinctive scar on his top lip under his nose and two distinctive tattoos, one with the name 'Annette' on the bicep of his left arm and a figure of a barbarian woman on the back of his right shoulder blade.

Cyrus was last seen wearing a black waterproof jacket, dark trousers and carrying a full rucksack.

Members of the public have been warned not to approach him but to contact police.

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