POLICE in Exeter are understood to be widening their search to trace a convicted armed robber and paedophile who has gone on the run.
A huge manhunt is continuing to find dangerous Mark Sleman after fled from his bail hostel following his release from prison earlier this year.
The 43-year-old, who also goes by the name of Archie Sleman, had his licence withdrawn by the Probation service as they were no longer able to supervise.
Officers initially released an appeal in September along with advice to members of the public not to approach him if they saw him but call 999 immediately.
The widespread publicity generated a number of fresh leads for police.
Despite this, three months later, he has still evaded capture.
A spokesman for Devon and Cornwall Police said today: "Mark Sleman is still at large and we are looking at different ways to track him down.
"We are continuing to search for him and are looking at widening the field to do this."
It is understood this could involve some form of national appeal.
Sleman had once been convicted for kidnapping and trying to rape a 10-year-old child. He was released earlier this year on licence as part of a seven-year sentence for robbing a homeless man at knifepoint and attempting to rob a garage shop supervisor in Exeter, again armed with a knife.
Reports about Sleman's "support for" or "links" with the far-right group the English Defence League also surfaced - with the Exeter division speaking out to publicly distance themselves from him.
The police spokesman added: "It is still very much a valid search. He is still on the run and we are still very keen to get hold of him. We have had a very good response from the public since the appeal went out. That has given us some leads we are looking into but there is nothing firm at this particular moment.
"The hunt does continue so if anyone has any further information we would be very keen to hear about it.
"No one wants him out on the streets and the information we get from the public will hopefully lead to a quick arrest. If anyone thinks they know someone who has information or knows of his whereabouts they can contact us directly on 101 or call Crimestoppers anonymously."
Anyone who knows the current whereabouts of Sleman or has seen him recently is asked to contact police on 101 quoting police reference DE/13/8408.
