A former detective who made his name on TV show Hunted is to launch a manhunt for a Liverpool fugitive linked to two brutal murders .
Peter Bleksley has built a following as The Chief on the hit Channel 4 show - which sees him lead a surveillance team that tracks contestants trying to avoid capture to win cash.
Now he is turning his sights on Kevin Parle - one of Britain's most wanted men.
Parle, who was privately educated, has long been top of Merseyside Police's list of major suspects they would like to question.
Dramatic video shows lorry stuck in bridge by M53
At 6ft 6in, the towering fugitive is wanted in connection with the murders of Walton mum Lucy Hargreaves and Toxteth teenager Liam Kelly.
Ms Hargreaves, 22, was under a duvet on the sofa in her front room in Lambourne Road when three men burst in in August 2005, fired a shotgun at her and then torched the house.
Her two-year-old daughter was sleeping upstairs at the time.
The popular mum was not believed to have been the intended target of the gun attack, described as “one of the most brutal” investigating detectives had ever come across.
Fourteen months earlier Liam Kelly, just 16, was gunned down in Grafton Street .
After getting a number of phone calls, he went to a meeting point only to be met by Anthony Campbell, with whom he had been arguing over a £200 debt.
Arsonists torch well-known Wirral pub
A crown court trial in 2007 heard Campbell turned up with Parle, who the court was told was believed to have fired the fatal shot.
Campbell , then 20 and from Dingle, was jailed for life over the teenager’s murder.
Several people, including Parle , were arrested in connection with the murder.
Parle, who has a one-inch scar on the left side of his head, was questioned and released on police bail. He failed to answer bail and a warrant was later issued for his arrest.
The hunt for Parle has sparked public appeals by detectives in Spain and the UK.
Now in his late 30s, he was once believed to be in hiding in the tourist-hotspot region of Alicante.
There were rumours he had fled to America, before further claims surfaced in 2016 that he was hiding out in Perth, Australia .
Huge cash rewards have been offered for information leading to his capture but Parle, nicknamed "Hemp" , remains on the run.
Now Mr Bleksley believes he may be able to force a breakthrough in the search for Parle.
Dramatic video shows lorry stuck in bridge by M53
Commenting on the launch of his own hunt, he said: “I have long believed that police appeals tend to be a bit one dimensional.
"All too often all we see is a photograph and a brief description of the crime that the fugitive is wanted for.
"My approach is different. I will be comprehensive, and I will be relentless. Believe me, Parle's days on the run are numbered."
*Anyone with information about Parle is asked to contact Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111 or Merseyside Police on 101.
