POLICE are following up leads in Scotland after a national appeal to find a man who failed to appear in court in connection with a violent attack.

Darwen Detective Sergeant Neil Hunter appeared on BBC TVs Crimewatch Daily programme on Monday in an effort to track down Edward O'Brien, who failed to turn up to a Crown Court trial in Burnley on January 29.

As a result, police are now following leads in Scotland, particularly in the Kilmarnock area, where he is known to have family.

O'Brien, 22, whose last given address was 15b Edmund Street, Darwen, is to face aggravated burglary charges in relation to an offence in Accrington last March.

DS Hunter said: "Even before the programme had finished we received a number of calls.

"It has given us some very positive lines of inquiry and we are working closely with our colleagues in Strathclyde. We received more pertinent calls on Monday than I did when I appeared on Crimewatch UK last August.

"On Monday we got about 20 calls and all were relevant but on Crimewatch UK we got about 100, of which only about five were useful.

"O'Brien has shown in the past he has a violent side and that he is prepared to use it as well.

"We believe he would not hesitate in targeting elderly members of the community and I would urge people not to approach this man," he said.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Darwen CID on 01254 353842.