A FUGITIVE was acquitted of rape and abduction charges just weeks before he went on the run.

Jonathan Kelly, of Drumchapel, Glasgow, has been at large since he breached his bail conditions on release from prison earlier this month.

The Evening Times can reveal he was acquitted of nine charges at the High Court in Glasgow on August 21.

Not proven verdicts were returned on four charges - including sexual assault - and not guilty on the remaining five charges, including abduction.

The three sexual assaults, one indecent assault and abduction, were alleged to have taken place between 1998 and 2002.

News of his acquittal of the 34-year-old comes as detectives continue to unravel a network of accomplices suspected of harbouring him. The manhunt is centred on Glasgow.

Senior officers believe he has been supported by friends.

Kelly had been freed from Low Moss Prison, Bishopbriggs, but failed to report to police.

Armed police, acting on intelligence, swooped on a Glasgow street last week.

The officers and the dog unit were called to a flat in Boyd Street, Govanhill, last Monday morning after reports Kelly had been spotted.

But following a seven-hour operation, the fugitive was nowhere to be found.

He has previously told of attacking people, and even paralysing a man in a machete attack.

While still in prison, Kelly wrote to campaign group Miscarriages Of Justice UK about his life of violence.

It is understood Kelly has "associates" across Glasgow, and may have met many of them during his time in prison.

Detective Inspector Ian Hylands said: "I would appeal to Kelly to give himself up and contact police with a view to handing himself in."

Kelly is white, 5ft 9in, with short brown hair and of a heavy build.

People have been warned not to approach him and to call 999 if he is spotted.

rebecca.gray@eveningtimes.co.uk