A taxi driver who has been jailed for 11 years after raping a drunken student twice following a night out in Chester has fled the country.
Syrian-born Sultan Amari, 46, of Chester Road in Flint, had denied two counts of raping the student at a house he owned on Sealand Road on July 11 last year but was found guilty on both charges.
On Monday when he should have returned to the trial but sent the court an email telling staff he had no intention of returning.
The father-of-one Amari was sentenced in his absence.A police check on his passport has revealed he boarded a flight to Istanbul on Sunday night breaching his bail conditions.
It is understood he could be headed for Syria where he has family.
The last time he attended Warrington Crown Court was on Friday when he was half way through giving evidence.
A warrant has been issued for Amari’s arrest and police enquiries to trace his whereabouts are ongoing.
During the trial he had insisted sex with his victim had been consensual after he had picked her up and taken her to the house.
When it became apparent Amari was not going to turn up at court Judge Tina Landale urged the seven women and five men on the jury not to guess why he was not present.
She said: “All I can say to you is he is not here and we are going to continue with the trial.”
Judge Landale today ordered an investigation into how Amari was allowed to slip the net.
The court had heard how his victim could not recall anything that happened in between leaving a bar in Chester and waking up naked and alone in an unfamiliar house where he raped her twice over a period of around eight hours.
But she later had a flashback that she was lying face-down on a mattress, unable to move her arms or open her eyes, with a man having intercourse with her.
Amari's was given 11 years for each count of rape to be served concurrently.
Judge Landale said: “This was a gross breach of trust with a very vulnerable woman.
“CCTV showed that she was totally incapable of walking in a straight line and she was obviously drunk.
“The public are entitled to be protected by people like Mr Amari but instead he exploited and took advantage of her.”
The victim’s personal impact statement was read to the court, in which she told of how her previous self-confidence has been destroyed by the attacks and she now struggles with severe anxiety and stress.
She said her relationship with her mother has suffered, as she feels she cannot be as open about her feelings for fear of upsetting her.
She will never get in a taxi ever again, she added.
see-http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/flint-rapist-jailed-11-years-11950347
No comments:
Post a Comment