BRAT17 wrote: I simply ask why the head of a school, if he is indeed "clean" and who he says he is, has reason to take off and not come back claiming that he is "scared for his safety" when the people who confronted him were locked up. By all accounts he was an associate of Munro - a self-confessed pedophile who was funding orphanages and schools in SR.

Regarding Scotcher, it truly sounds like a case of mistaken identity.

It sounds like any picture they have of the actual fugitive would be almost 20 years old, if that's how long it's been since he was last seen, so this seems based on a picture that wasn't even good enough for the WA police to take action on.

And I believe Hastie was released within a couple days, and it was rumoured on day one that he was likely already on his way out, so to say that Scotcher shouldn't be "scared for his safety" is a bit unfair.

Assuming he is "clean," I think it's very reasonable to have skipped town in his case. He was just burgled by 2 renegade Ozzies with police ties, and one is a fugitive who's been charged with very nasty crimes, including torture, and it was probably a safer bet to assume they would BOTH (Eglitis and Hastie) be out of jail in no time, and would likely be even more rabid going after him this time.

This might be a good example of why law enforcement shouldn't hire/encourage/guide fugitives on the run for kidnapping and torture to do their dirty work.

If Scotcher is in fact innocent, I think his decision to leave Cambodia is understandable.

And didn't he go back to Australia? That seems like the last place he'd want to go if he was the fugitive being hunted shall after all.

Hastie is a new zealander and was released i believe about 6 weeks after arrest. He didn't come to Oz. Scotcher went to UK. WA police had a copy of Scotcher passport yet they still requested fingerprints as absolute proof it was not Shom with fake passport.
I had one of the most cynical, doubting investigative journalists in the country tell me he had little doubt the pics were a match... the features are very similar
We likely will never know but it would be interesting to know where scotcher is

Eglitis had his bail revoked in Brisbane court last week. About all the article says

Username Taken wrote:Can't the UK authorities confirm that Scotcher returned to the UK, and confirm his bonafides?

Have you got a pic of Scotcher that you can share?

I'd be most interested to see one also.

BRAT17 wrote:Hastie is a new zealander and was released i believe about 6 weeks after arrest. He didn't come to Oz. Scotcher went to UK. WA police had a copy of Scotcher passport yet they still requested fingerprints as absolute proof it was not Shom with fake passport.
I had one of the most cynical, doubting investigative journalists in the country tell me he had little doubt the pics were a match... the features are very similar
We likely will never know but it would be interesting to know where scotcher is

I have only managed to find one very small image that might be of Scotcher and if it is of him, I can see why people could suspect he is actually Shom. However, I would like to see a larger image - one the same size and clarity of Shom's - to compare.

Some other points/queries. Exactly how old would Shom be now? I've seen him referred to as 51yo here:

http://www.mako.org.au/leon-mark-melzac ... anted.html

Presumably, that means he was 51yo when he absconded, which would put him close to Scotcher's age. If he is 51yo now, that makes him at least 15 years younger than Scotcher.

Is there any suggestion he was ever a British national? If not, where did the passport come from? If the Australian authorities want him badly enough because they suspect strongly enough he is Shom, the British will be amenable to lending assistance. They would confirm/deny whether the UKPA had issued him with a passport and his last known location, as far as they know it. If he has entered the UK that fact will be known. The UK will quite happily hand a paedo over to Australia, especially if it is someone masquerading as British on a forged passport.

Just a final one, can I take it you are the author of this?

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/sout ... 1481643506

If I can work out how to post a pic here, I will put one up... but might be best just to search Scotcher on Facebook
Shom is now 56 yrs old
Yes I am the author of that original article and while I provided a communication conduit for police and Eglitis re the Shom/scotcher issue, my concern was primarily with Munro... who Eglitis did a lot of valuable surveillance on
I suggest it was munro feeling uncomfortable with what eglitis had uncovered of his movement in SR which contributed to him returning to Oz to answer the charges he is now in jail for.
Whatever Scotcher's true identity, it was most definitely in question by some elements of police in Australia who asked Eglitis to try to gain fingerprints
When there's such similarities in image, and you've managed to avoid detection for 18 or so years in countries where $$$ talks, it is understandable the lengths cops will want to go to be sure before letting their man go. Maybe Scotcher would be happy to volunteer his prints??? I understand he was asked such through the school he was master of but was not forthcoming
He may well be perfectly innocent and who he says he is (he's not Australian btw)

One aspect of this intriguing tale seems to have disappeared down an oubliette; the brief reference to APLE, that indefatigable
and undiscouragable body.

Are we to assume that the diligent and ever-observant Childsafe tuk-tukkers of SR were tracking TM's every move in the hope of nailing him?

Does Childsafe pay a bounty? If so, how much?