Murder police hunt ‘dangerous man in a chaotic state of mind’

Firearms officers moved on to a housing estate in Middlesbrough where Allen is believed to have lived until shortly before the murders of Colin Dunford, 81, and Julie Davison, 50.

The search centred on a property in Lothian Road in the Pallister Park area of the town which police visited over the weekend seeking to interview Allen about another alleged offence.

Forensic experts in white overalls scoured the place for potential evidence while uniformed officers kept guard outside.

Neighbours said they had seen Allen at the raided property over the weekend.

Adeel Baig said he last saw Allen at about 5pm or 6pm on Sunday as the suspect got into a taxi.

He said: “He was a normal bloke. Always polite. I thought he was trying to sort his life out.”

Mr Baig added that he also saw Allen on Saturday with a baby who the suspect said was his granddaughter.

“I was surprised. I thought it was his daughter. She was only about six months old.

“After that I saw him on Sunday as he walked towards a taxi. On the Sunday he had knocked on my door and asked to borrow some pots and pans.”

Mr Baig said armed police flooded the street shortly after 9am yesterday.

“Six or seven police vehicles arrived and officers got out with their weapons and ran to the house,” he said. “They asked me to go to the bottom of the road. They were walking towards the house with guns.”

Mohammed Salim Afsar, who lives opposite the raided house, said he saw Allen about four days ago.

“He was walking down the road quickly towards a taxi. He said he was a bricklayer and asked if I wanted any work doing.

“He said he was going to Scarborough. I recognised his photo and rang the police yesterday.”

More than 100 police officers from the Cleveland and North Yorkshire forces are investigating the killings.

Cleveland Police’s head of crime operations, Temporary Detective Chief Superintendent Gordon Lang, said: “There have been a number of sightings of James Allen in both force areas, which are being followed up, and a huge amount of activity has gone on overnight to find him.”

Asked to describe Allen’s state of mind, the detective replied: “Clearly confused. Chaotic.

“I am not a psychiatrist or a psychologist but this man needs to stop. He needs to stop now and hand himself in to the police.

“This investigation will not cease until we find him and bring him to justice.”

The operation is the largest manhunt North Yorkshire Police has been involved in since the search for Mark Hobson in July 2004.

Hobson, a former binman, went on the run after murdering his girlfriend Claire Sanderson and her twin sister Diane, 27, at his flat in Camblesforth, near Selby.

He also killed elderly couple James and Joan Britton, aged 80 and 82, at their home in the village of Strensall, near York.

More than 500 police officers and 12 forces were involved in an eight-day hunt for Hobson, who was eventually arrested at a petrol station in the village of Shipton-by-Beningbrough in North Yorkshire.

He was sentenced to life in prison and is one of a small group of dangerous criminals who have been told they will never be released.

The search for Allen also evokes memories of the hunt for triple murderer Barry Prudom almost 30 years ago.

In the summer of 1982 Prudom, a gun-obsessed loner, jumped bail from Leeds Crown Court where he was due to stand trial for assault, and when approached by Pc David Haigh near Harrogate, shot him with a .22 pistol.

The Leeds-born electrician went on the run, murdering George Luckett near Newark and stealing his car.

Back in North Yorkshire, Prudom murdered Sgt David Winter in Old Malton and attempted to kill Pc Ken Oliver, who survived.

He holed up at Malton Tennis Club where, in the early hours of July 4, he shot himself.