A rapist who held his victim at knifepoint and threatened to kill her is on the run from justice after being accidentally released from prison four months ago.
Bernadin Dedic, 48, had been drinking red wine and was high on cocaine when he pulled out a knife on the woman, telling her that if she screamed she “wouldn’t be heard”.
He cut off the victim’s clothes before subjecting her to a series of rapes and sexual assaults in an ordeal which lasted for several hours.
Dedic, a businessman living in Ealing, west London, was remanded in custody last year after being charged with four counts of rape, two counts of sexual assault by penetration, causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent, threatening a person with a knife, and making a threat to kill.
However, in February he was mistakenly set free from HMP Wormwood Scrubs after a court official wrongly told the west London prison that he had been granted bail.
Within hours, Dedic had left the UK on the Eurostar and returned to his native Bosnia.
The defendant put forward a litany of excuses for not coming back to face justice, including claims of a heart attack and a skiing accident, and he remained in Bosnia whilst the trial went ahead this month at Isleworth Crown Court.
On Tuesday, a jury convicted Dedic on all nine counts in his absence.
If he fails to return for the sentencing hearing, the UK authorities are expected to begin extradition proceedings so he can be brought to justice.
The Press Association first revealed in February how a suspected rapist, who could not be named at the time to avoid prejudicing his trial, had been wrongly released from jail and managed to flee the UK.
Dedic, who was represented in court hearings by a leading barrister, sent messages saying he wanted to come back to stand trial, but claimed he was struggling to obtain a visa.
His UK passport was seized by the Metropolitan Police during the rape investigation, but after being set free from prison he used his Bosnian passport to secure a seat on the Eurostar.-Telegraph
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The post Rapist on the run after accidental prison release appeared first on Ghanaian Times.
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