MAN CONVICTED OF CONSETT ATTEMPTED RAPE RE-ARRESTED AFTER GOING ON THE RUN
A wanted man convicted of attempted rape after failing to appear for the final day of his trial has been rearrested.Mohammad Bahaadeen failed to turn up for the sixth day of his trial at court on January 12 and has been on the run ever since.
As there was no explanation for the defendant’s non-appearance at court, the case continued in his absence.
The jury returned guilty verdicts on counts of attempted rape of a woman 16 and over and assaulting her by beating, offences committed in the Consett area of County Durham in 2022.
Bahaadeen was cleared of a further charge of intentional strangulation.
Judge Richard Bennett, who presided over the trial, issued a bench warrant for the arrest of the 45-year-old defendant, of Claremont Road, Newcastle.
A “mention” in the case was heard at Durham Crown Court in mid-April, when Judge Bennett was told the defendant still appeared to be at large.
It was understood Bahaadeen has now been arrested, but it was not known where he is now being detained and that he had not yet been brought before a court.
Judge Bennett said it sounded “positive”, enabling the case to move on to sentence at some stage soon.
“He vanished on the last day of his trial.
We’ll see what happens and where he’s brought to, and, at some stage, he’ll be brought before me for sentence.” The case was adjourned to a date to be fixed for Bahaadeen’s sentencing.
