A CRADLEY Heath 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 being slapped behind bars.
Judge Nicholas Cartwright, who issued a warrant for his arrest, was told Rahman had bought a ticket through an agency for Bangladesh on Friday and he had illegally left the United Kingdom just 24 hours later.
The officer 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.
Tariq Shakoor, who defended Rahman during the course of his trial, said an investigation would have to be made into how he was able to leave the country without his own passport.
During his trial Rahman’s two victims described to the jury how they had been touched sexually by the Imam when they attended his mosque for religious studies.
After his conviction the judge said sentencing guidelines meant Rahman was facing a prison sen-tence of up to four years for his crimes.