A religious leader who carried out sex attacks on two young girls at his Dudley mosque has fled the country using a false passport.
Hafiz Rahman who was convicted by a jury on five specimen charges of indecent assault has flown to Bangladesh to avoid sentencing.
Judge Nicholas Cartwright, who issued a warrant for his arrest, was told Rahman had bought a ticket through an agency for Bangladesh last Friday and had illegally left the United Kingdom just 24 hours later. He said Wolverhampton Crown Court had been told last Friday Rahman was too ill to attend as the eight man-four woman were considering the evidence at the end of his five day trial.
There was a likelihood, said the judge, that Rahman who was the Imam at the Queens Cross mosque had left behind assets in this country.
The judge ruled that Rahman who surrendered his own passport to his solicitors as part of the bail conditions he has breached would now be sentenced for his crimes on November 3.
DC Liz Skype from the West Midlands Police public protection unit said Rahman who had denied committing the offences 30 years ago had been allowed to keep his freedom because at the time he had not breached the conditions of his bail.
