Church worshippers in Coventry were asked to help in the nationwide hunt for a murder suspect wanted over the "violent death" of a Polish student whose body was found in a Scottish church.

It is thought convicted sex attacker Peter Tobin, who is being questioned over the murder of Angelika Kluk, had in the past visited the drop-in Jesus Centre in Coventry city centre.

He is thought to have signed the visitors' book at the day centre, which is for the homeless and disadvantaged, in July 2005.

Tobin (60) was arrested on Saturday by the Metropolitan Police for an unrelated matter under the Sexual Offences Act. Scottish police officers were yesterday travelling to the capital to question him.

Before the arrest, Strathclyde Police had been circulating details of Tobin, who was convicted in the 1990s of sex offences, around church groups across the country.

There were suggestions he had at least once visited Jesus Army premises in Coventry and Jesus Centre manager Piers Denholm-Young showed his photo to friends on the off-chance he turned up there.

"There was thought to be some connection with the Jesus Army because someone from it, living in the South, recognised Tobin on Crime-watch in 1993-94," he said.

"There is some implication he might have been at the church 15 to 16 years ago, but there was no one who remembered."

It is thought Tobin may have signed the visitors' book at the day centre under the name Pat McLaughlin.

"It is a drop-in centre which thousands visit and Pat McLaughlin is a common name," pointed out Mr Denholm-Young.

"I've shown the picture to a couple of people, but I thought twice about printing the picture as I didn't want to raise the alarm."

Tobin was the handyman at St Patrick's Roman Catholic Church where the languages student had been staying before her disappearance last Monday. He had spoken to police earlier in the week but then vanished.

Ms Kluk's body was found on Friday night during a detailed search of St Patrick's. She was last seen with the handyman within the church grounds the afternoon before she was reported missing on Monday, when she failed to turn up to her job as a cleaner.

It was her second summer in Glasgow, having visited Scotland the previous year along with her father and older sister Aneta.

On both occasions, she stayed at the church where priest Father Gerry Nugent operates an "open-door policy" for those in need of shelter.

Strathclyde Police yesterday confirmed the body discovered by officers searching St Patrick's in the Anderston area on Friday night was Ms Kluk's and a post mortem examination was due to take place.

Det Supt David Swindle of Strathclyde Police said she had died as a result of a "horrific and very, very violent attack".

Tobin was convicted of raping one 14-year-old girl and sexually assaulting another in Havant, Hampshire, in 1994 and sentenced to 14 years in jail.

The Sexual Offences Act 2003 states offenders must notify police within three days of any change of name or new home address or if they are released from custody.