The Home Secretary has been dragged into the row over the escape of a dangerous, violent sex offender from a hostel in Bradford.

Shipley MP Philip Davies has written to Dr John Reid demanding to know why Kelly James Edney was released from prison on licence and allowed to live at Box Tree Cottage, a Christian charity-run hostel in a residential area of Allerton.

Edney, 26, absconded from the home after breaking off his electronic tag last week.

He fled to Leeds and caught a train to London, but was re-arrested four days later in Taunton, Somerset - the place where he had raped a 16-year-old schoolgirl when he was 18.

Edney has now been returned to prison.

A joint inquiry, involving police, the probation service, the Home Office and the Langley House Trust, which runs the Bradford hostel, is now under way to establish how Edney escaped.

Mr Davies said: "When he absconded, the police put out a warning that he was extremely dangerous and should not be approached.

"If that was the case he shouldn't have been let out of prison in the first place.

"I have written to John Reid to ask how this man was released from prison early. I find it unacceptable that a man like this was freed from prison to this hostel.

"If they are dangerous, they shouldn't be there in the first place."

Mr Davies said there were questions to be asked of the probation service.

He said: "They can't physically stop people offending, all they can do is minimise the risk. Keeping them in custody is the only safeguard."

A spokesman for Avon and Somerset Police said Edney had been returned to prison to serve the rest of his sentence.

They had received no reports of him committing further offences and he did not face further charges.

Cath Magee, northern operations director of the Langley House Trust, said a review of the case was taking place.

She said: "We want things to go to plan and when they don't we want to look at that. If there are any lessons to be learned, we will do so."

Group 4 Securicor, the firm responsible for tagging Edney, could not comment on suggestions he had not been registered with them as a high-risk offender.

A spokesman said: "He was on a tag and he broke his curfew. There was nothing wrong with the monitoring of the tag and we did everything appropriately in terms of following the procedures.

"We were informed by the Home Office of our conditions and what we needed to do. Electronic monitoring is one of a number of conditions that would be on someone like this. We were responsible for monitoring the curfew and we followed procedures."

A Home Office spokesman said Edney was on "enhanced supervision" in accommodation, under the care of West Yorkshire Probation.

A spokesman for West Yorkshire Probation said they had worked with the Home Office, adding: "There was never any doubt he was a high-risk offender."

e-mail: steve.wright@bradford.newsquest.co.uk

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