Bowden (52) was sentenced to life at the Old Bailey in 1982 for dismembering a London park keeper alive with a saw before severing his head with a carving knife and keeping it in a fridge.

He escaped custody in 1992 while on compassionate home leave when he duped his guards into believing armed accomplices were waiting outside.

During his time on the loose Scotland Yard said he was “extremely dangerous” and should not be approached.

When he was recaptured 18 months later he was branded an “extreme escape risk” and once again placed in a high-security facility.

He was eventually moved to open conditions in Castle Huntly last year, and has been let out on regular fortnightly home leaves.

Castle Huntly is reserved for prisoners that the Scottish Prison Service deems almost ready for release.

However, the leaked report calls into question Bowden’s suitability for parole due to his regular contact with a group known as Anarchist Black Cross.

The report states, “Bowden has written for a self-proclaimed anarchist website called ABC Brighton, and says he supports many of their ideals and actions.

“A review of this website brings into question the nature of this group.

“The members of this group appear to be primarily eco-terrorists or paramilitary members in what they see as battles against political systems and principles.

“In a previous report from HMP Edinburgh, it was reported that Bowden had received visits from people involved in terrorism.”

The Scottish Prison Service refused to release a full copy of the report in its original context as they claim it breaches the prisoner’s right to privacy.

Bowden has now decided to leak excerpts of the report himself, and continually criticises the prison service on websites from inside the prison.

The Tele has been asking for a more open policy regarding prisoner information following several high-profile absconders from the Carse prison and Noranside, near Forfar.

However, repeated attempts to discover the identities of absconders and the nature of their crimes have been confounded by the same data protection laws.

A Scottish Prison Service spokesperson said, “This report was compiled by a prison social worker, and Mr Bowden would have received a copy of it.

“If he chooses to put parts of a report about himself in the public domain, it is up to him.

“It is not appropriate for the Scottish Prison Service to put such material in the public domain, and it would not be appropriate for us to comment on anything that hasn’t been released by the SPS.”

Meanwhile, Anarchist Black Cross rejects any claim it is a terrorist organisation and says it is a legitimate prisoner support organisation.

Furthermore, the group said the visit mentioned in the report by HMP Edinburgh was, in fact, a visit to Bowden by two members of Brighton ABC.

Anarchist Black Cross does not appear on the Home Office’s List of Proscribed Groups under the Terrorism Act, which is largely made up of international Islamic organisations and Irish paramilitary groups proscribed under previous terrorism legislation.

In response to specific inquiries about ABC Brighton, a Home Office spokesperson said, “Groups which cause grounds for concern are kept under review. We do not comment on specific cases. Action will be taken where appropriate.”