'Alarming': Hundreds of sex offenders allowed to change their names

Among those to exploit the “dangerous loophole” was killer Jason Graham who raped and murdered Glasgow pensioner Esther Brown in May 2021.

Graham had been previously convicted of raping a nurse and leaving her for dead back in 2013.

But he was using the name Jason Evans when he murdered Ms Brown, 67, in her own home in Woodlands.

The much-loved church-goer was involved with countless projects in her retirement, including Glasgow Street Pastors, food banks and her beloved St Silas Church.

Esther Brown (Image: Police Scotland)Police Scotland records reveal that they were notified of 392 instances of sex criminals changing names within a 19-month period – from April 1, 2022, to October 31 last year.

Currently, sex offenders must notify the police about any name change, but they are not prohibited from changing their names.

Russell Findlay, Scottish Conservative shadow justice secretary, is calling for the practice to be banned because it allows dangerous criminals to “hide in plain sight” by masking their true identity.

The MSP said: “Hundreds more registered sex offenders in Scotland have been legally able to change their names.

“People who they meet in daily life, especially those they have relationships with, are deprived of knowing who they really are.

“Being placed on the sex offenders’ register is not done lightly and it is clearly wrong for them to be able to hide in plain sight in this way.

“Having first called on SNP ministers to close this dangerous loophole two years ago nothing has happened. The government says that public protection measures are sufficient, but that claim is simply untrue.

“These alarming new figures demonstrate the growing scale of this problem. Does there need to be another tragic crime before action is taken?”