Police search for escaped prisoner

Police have asked an escaped prisoner to surrender.

David McCord, who is serving a life sentence for murder, was in the care of prison staff at a property on the Crumlin Road in north Belfast on Friday.

The 54-year-old was last seen on the Castlereagh Road in east Belfast at around 4.30pm BST. He was wearing a green jacket, black tracksuit bottoms and carrying a red shopping bag.

The prison service said McCord escaped from a facility where inmates receive training at the end of their sentences.

McCord was Sentenced to life imprisonment in 2004 for the murder of his girlfriend, 26-year-old Nichola Dickson, in Ballycarry.

Police are asking anyone who has seen him or knows his whereabouts not to approach him but to call 101 and quote reference number 607 of 16/08/24.

Citizens can also contact the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Police are also still trying to locate another convicted murderer – Dean Michael Woods – who has been “unlawfully at large” since Tuesday, August 13.

Woods, a 46-year-old slim man with brown hair and brown eyes, participated in pre-release testing.

He has a heart tattoo on his chest and a tribal line tattoo on his left upper arm.

Woods, then 18, was convicted of murdering 26-year-old Brian Peden on December 10, 1995.