A man the public have been warned not to approach has been on the run for five years –possibly living in Sidcup.

Bexley police only decided this week to issue an appeal for help in trying to trace James MacCowen-May, 48, who was charged with GBH in 2002 and failed to appear at Croydon Crown Court in July 2003.

And borough commander Ch Supt Tony Dawson says more “serious” appeals will be made in the coming weeks in a bid to trace Bexley’s most wanted.

Ch Supt Dawson said an appeal had not been launched until now because of the force’s excellent record on tracing suspects.

He said: “We’ve got the most effective system in the Met for following-up warrants. We are the second lowest in London for outstanding warrants and the other borough is much smaller than us.”

He added: “There are a few people that have been wanted for a long time, so we decided to go to the public.

“We thought we’d concentrate on the most serious ones first.”

He also revealed the tactics used by Bexley officers to try and trace Mac-Cowen-May. These included speaking to neighbours and family members, using computer records and utilising other agencies.

Despite the manhunt, confusion remains over whether MacCowen-May could ever face trial. A spokesman for the Crown Prosecution Service said he could find no trace of court files relating to the case. He said these could have been lost in a database changeover in 2003.

Anyone with information on Mac-Cowen-May’s whereabouts can contact Bexley Crime Hotline on 020 8284 9234 or Crimestoppers, both anonymously, on 0800 555 111.