A CONVICTED rapist from Oldham is one of 15 sex offenders who have gone missing from Greater Manchester.

Attif Hussain, 35, vanished after he was released on licence.

Sex offenders are legally required to register their name, address and date of birth with the police. Failure to notify, or false notification, is punishable by up to six months in jail.

Hussain, whose last known address was in Shaw, was sentenced to 12 years for rape and kidnapping in Oldham in 1996.

He was released in 2003 on licence, but this was revoked after he was convicted of shoplifting and theft. In 2004, he was released again on licence. His period of licence ended in November 2008.

A month later, an allegation of serious sexual assault was made against him but police have so far not been able to trace him.

Also missing is Iranian national Mamod Korbani, 32, who is wanted on recall to prison. He was convicted of raping a woman in Oldham in 2005 and sentenced to four years.

He was released on licence in December 2008 to a hostel, but registered a new address shortly afterwards. When police checked in March 2009, he was not there.

Anyone with information about their whereabouts should contact police on 0161 872 5050.

There are 1,812 registered sex offenders living in the community in Greater Manchester and 700 in local prisons.
Of the 15 missing, 10 are believed to be abroad.

In December, our sister paper the M.E.N. discovered there were 23 sex offenders missing from Greater Manchester after a Freedom of Information request. GMP have since caught eight.

Det Insp Debbie Conlon Houldershaw, from GMP's Sex Offender Management Unit, said: "We make every effort to ensure we know where registered sex offenders are and those that go missing are found and dealt with.

"We know the impact these offences can have on victims and families. Protecting people is our priority and all serious offenders are rigorously managed and monitored by trained staff."

Child protection campaigners expressed concern about sex offenders going missing.

Claude Knights, director of Kidscape, said: "When sex offenders go missing it is a red signal that they are dangerous. You don't go missing unless you want to escape the system.

"The likelihood is they are reoffending. It is very worrying."