A CHILDHOOD friend of missing killer Mark Ryder has described his horror at hearing the convicted murderer is on the run for the third time.

The man - who grew up with both Ryder and his victim Stuart McCue - said he could not believe the authorities have let him get away for a third time - and took more than five days to release a current picture of the missing murdered.

The former friend - who would not be named for fear of reprisals - said he would never have recognised Ryder after seeing his latest police mugshot as he has changed so much since he shot McCue in Whitehawk in 1993. Among the changes is the fact Ryder, now 46 has had a tattoo of a cross removed from his face.

The man told The Argus: "I can't believe that after the last two times they've let him go on the run again.

"If I had seen him at the bus stop I would never have recognised him.

"He would recognise me 100 per cent, but I wouldn't have recognised him.

"How was he supposed to be caught if they didn't tell people what he looks like now?"

"I bet there are a lot of people round here who would be terrified.

"I want to see him back behind bars for his family's sake. I really feel for them with him out again.

Detectives from Hertfordshire police who are leading the search for Ryder visited the bail hotel in Manchester where he had been on living on Wednesday - a week after he last signed on as required by the terms of his release.

Ryder had been released from the life sentence he was serving at Highpoint category A prison in Suffolk in July on licence.

Ten years ago the McCue family were left terrified after Ryder managed to go on the run to Spain for two months after giving prison officers the slip whilst on a supervised day trip to Cambridge.

He had also been on the run from Lewes prison at the time of Stuart's murder having absconded while on a boat trip to Brighton Marina.

Ryder had arranged with acquaintances he met inside Lewes Prison to get hold of the shotgun he used to kill Stuart.

Even prior to that he escaped from a young offenders' institution in Kent.

"I believe he's bound to have already been back to the scene of the murder, then probably gone to Hampshire and committed some armed robberies to get enough money to get to Spain," his former friend added.

"He has planned this. He's been out of prison on licence since July.

"He would have planned the day he went missing from the bail hostel in Manchester He was probably already in Spain before they even got on to him.

"He is fearless. He's got nothing to lose and he probably thinks that if he gets caught he'll just go back inside for a rest.

"He had been in prison for two armed robberies when he escaped and came back with a gun and killed Stuart. He got a gun and came back and shot Stuart so I wouldn't put anything past him.

"I'm pretty sure that if he was bailed to Manchester - the gun crime capital of Britain - he'd have been able to easily get a gun. He was always pretty messed up and spent his childhood in and out of borstal. He has got to be a proper psychopath to kill a lad he grew up with.

"He's not stupid.

"His previous escapes were always well planned.

"The authorities treat him like he's stupid but that's how he always manages to get out."

If you see Ryder, do not approach him and call 999.

I STILL VISIT HIS GRAVESTONE EVERY YEAR

STUART McCue’s friend can still remember the night McCue was killed as if it was yesterday.

The friend was round the corner from the Valley Social Club at the time the 25-year-old was shot by Mark Ryder in Whitehawk in May 1993.

“I heard two shots and a screech of wheels and assumed it was a car backfiring,” he said.

“Then a friend came round and said ‘Stuart’s been shot’.

“I got there before the ambulance but I couldn’t let myself see him.

“I turned the corner and thought ‘oh my god’.

“I could see all the gun police turning up and realised it was real.

“I didn’t believe it at first and had to go down there.

“There was no way I was going to lean over the wall and look at him in that way.

“I did accidentally see an autopsy photo and couldn’t get that image out of my head.

“The people I know who did see him in that way could never get over it.”

The crime shocked Brighton and left Whitehawk in mourning.

The pair had come into conflict over Ryder’s relationship with McCue’s former girlfriend Emma Dovey, the mother of McCue’s two children.

Ryder had looked his former friend in the eye and pulled the trigger three times. Bleeding heavily, McCue tried to crawl away before he was shot again “like a dog”.

Ryder made off in a stolen Nissan.

Police patrol cars and the force helicopter chased him through the city before he gave them the slip in Cannon Place car park. He was later arrested following a tip off and jailed for life.

Family members ran to McCue’s side and tried to stop the bleeding.

His brother Gary lived just a few minutes away and arrived on the scene to see him lying dead in a pool of blood.

The friend continued: “Every May 22 I go down to his gravestone.

“I still pass the spot every day.

“They changed the entrance to the club but you can still see the pellet marks on the lamp post.”

“If you look up you can see the pellet marks still in the lamppost.”

Describing his friendship with McCue, who he grew up alongside and hung around with on the Whitehawk estate, he said: “Stuart had his life together and was on the straight and narrow. It was the first time I had seen him smiling for a long while.

“When someone says they’re going to kill you, you take it with a pinch of salt. I don’t any more.”