March 2011 Sex offender who went on the run jailed for 27 months A sex offender whose disappearance triggered a major manhunt has been jailed for 27 months. Steven McGarry, 36, went on the run on Christmas Eve 2010 while on licence from a 51-month sentence for abduction and sexual assault. For several months he used the aliases Adam Hunter, Soldier Boy and Colin Sampson on the internet to contact a string of women throughout the UK, Kilmarnock Sheriff Court heard. He admitted two charges of breaching the Sex Offenders Register by failing to notify police of the false names between August and December 2010. McGarry, described by police as a “danger to women”, was jailed at the High Court in Glasgow in 2005 after he admitted tying up a 17-year-old girl and subjecting her to a night-long ordeal. He outlined his sexual fantasies in a note to his victim before beating her up and binding and gagging her with a shoelace and pieces of towel. At one point he selected clothes from her wardrobe and ordered her to put them on after untying her. McGarry then stripped and sexually assaulted his victim, who was a neighbour in flats for the homeless in Darvel, Ayrshire. He eventually left her at 6.45am and she chained her front door before calling police on her mobile. Jailing McGarry for the original crime, Lord Philip told him: “This was an appalling crime committed against a vulnerable young woman of 17, living on her own away from her family. “You detained her for eight hours and subjected her to a humiliating and terrifying experience.” McGarry also had a prior conviction for detaining a 14-year-old girl against her will and putting his hands over her mouth. When released McGarry will be banned from contact with anyone aged under 17, and prevented from using the internet or going near schools, parks, playgrounds or anywhere used by children. He must also comply with curfew and tagging orders and must not carry out any voluntary work.