The heartbroken parents of a convicted murderer on the run from a Cookstown hostel "pray to God" he will hand himself in.
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Jonathan Neill, 34, was on a phased release scheme from Maghaberry Prison, Co Antrim, when he disappeared.
He was last seen on Monday in the Molesworth Road area of Cookstown.
Neill was convicted of murdering a man in London in 1991 when he was aged 16. The victim, Donald McKenzie - a lodger at the Neill family's then home - was stabbed 24 times.
The only explanation ever given by Neill was that he wanted to know what it felt like to kill someone.
This is not the first time he has broken the terms of his release but, his father told UTV he could not understand why he would abscond so close to his release date.
"He's been out in Cookstown now for nine months and he's done nobody no harm. He's due for release any time now and I can't understand why he's run away," Norman Neill said.
"He's come through the system ... His tariff was 12 years, but he's already done way over that - he's done nearly 18 years and they're still giving him hassle."
'Sorry'
Dismissing reports that his son carved the number 666 and a cross into the back of his victim, Mr Neill expressed his sympathy to the man's family.
"He definitely murdered my lodger, but there was none of this 666 and a cross - that was all nonsense," he said.
"There's nobody more sorry about it than me because he was a friend of mine and I have so much sympathy for his family. I can't stress that enough, that I am very sorry for what he's done."
But Mr Neill added that he did not think his son posed further risk to the public, despite police warnings that he should not be approached.
"We've (his parents) been up visiting him, he's been at football matches with me - we've been to a few Coleraine matches. The guy was no danger to anyone. What he's done was when he was 16 - he's a different guy now, he's a man now," he said.
"Why should they be worried?" he asked.
"It's all in the past ... I am confident that he would not harm anybody again."
Mr Neill last spoke to his son a week ago on the phone.
'Devastated'
He told UTV he only had one message for Jonathan.
"My message would be to come and give himself up and get it all sorted out. I don't know why he ran away because it's a silly thing to do.
"I pray to God that he gives himself up. His mum's devastated. It's very hard to talk about it, bringing it up after all these years," he said.
"He'll go back to prison - there's no doubt about it.
"Jonathan, if you're listening - hand yourself in to the nearest police station. Please."
Jonathan Neill is described as 6'2 in height and of slim build, with black hair and brown eyes. He has scars on his left wrist and right hand and also wears an earring.
The public have been advised not to approach him, but to contact police with any information.
© UTV News