DETECTIVES hunting Southampton’s most wanted man have advised two women feared to be at risk from him to move house.
For five weeks police have been searching for Michael Easy, branded a danger to the public following an alleged attack on a teenage woman at a party he gatecrashed.
Hundreds of officers across the county have been put on alert to find the 27-year-old named as the prime suspect in the attack in which the young woman was dragged into the street and had her neck cut with an 8in knife.
The 19-year-old was also hit in the face and suffered an injury to her thigh.
But despite the large-scale hunt, which has seen homes in Mansbridge, Bitterne, Bevois Valley and Eastleigh searched, Easy remains on the run.
Two women have moved to new homes amid concerns for their safety, officers have revealed.
Tomorrow Hampshire police will turn to a nationwide TV appeal in the hope of finally catching him.
They say there is a strong possibility that Easy may no longer be hiding out in Southampton, where the alleged attack happened in the early hours of Sunday, May 26, and particularly want to raise awareness in London where officers from The Met have been working with local detectives to try to locate him.
Work has also been carried out surrounding Easy’s contact with others on the Internet, after he brazenly updated his Facebook page with a new picture of himself in the 24 hours after the attack.
Ahead of the appeal on Crimewatch tomorrow morning, police have released more detail about Easy who they say may have changed his appearance during the past month.
He is 5ft 9in and of muscular build, he had cropped hair and when he was last seen had facial hair, which he might have since shaved off.
Sgt Al Dineley from the integrated offender management team said: “By showing Michael Easy as a wanted person on the BBC’s Crimewatch programme we are hoping it will help bring in new sightings and information about where he may be.
“So far he has evaded us but there are a number of teams working really hard on tracking down this dangerous offender and we will find him.
“We are following up on all the information we have to help us locate him and will do so with any new leads we get.
“We’ve had some response to our previous publicity about Michael Easy that we are making further inquiries into and we’d like to thank people for their help.
“I’d urge anyone who does know where Michael Easy is to contact DC Daniel Toman at Southampton Central CID or PC Katie Holmes in the Southampton IOM team on 101 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111."
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