Father apprehended, but criminal initially escaping, tense (7)
I believe the answer is:
fraught
'tense' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'father apprehended but' is the wordplay.
'father' becomes 'fr' (abbreviation as in a priest's title).
'apprehended but' becomes 'aught' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'fr'+'aught'='FRAUGHT'
'criminal initially escaping' acts as a link.
This may not be correct. Some or all of it may be part of another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for fraught that I've seen before include "Causing stress" , "Emotionally charged" , "Burdened with anxiety" , "anxious" , "Charged (with); tense" .)