A “wanted” man has finally given himself up 16 years after he skipped bail and missed his trial for drugs offences.
Naveed Ahmed was due to stand trial at Bradford Crown Court back in 2000, but a judge heard yesterday that he was ill in Pakistan at the time and then “buried his head in the sand” after missing the hearing.
Ahmed, of Moorside Avenue, Crosland Moor, was 22 when a warrant was issued for his arrest, but today the 38-year-old’s barrister Camille Morland explained that he was now a married father with two children.
After handing himself in to police Ahmed, who was due to face drug supply allegations at his trial, was brought before a judge at Bradford Crown Court this afternoon.
He pleaded guilty to an offence under the Bail Act in relation to his failure to attend at court for his trial and Judge Mushtaq Khokar remanded him in custody for 28 days.
Miss Morland explained that Ahmed had travelled from Pakistan to Germany in 2001 where he got work on a check-in desk for an airline company.
She said her client had lived a law-abiding life in Germany, got married and had two children.
The court heard that Ahmed had travelled back to the UK over the years and had never been arrested.
“He came back to live here in December last year,” revealed Miss Morland.
She said Ahmed had lived with his family at first and then moved into rented accommodation with his wife and children in April.
Miss Morland added: “He became aware a week ago that the police were going back to his family home. He decided of course that the time had come when he had to surrender.”
Miss Morland applied for bail on behalf of Ahmed on the basis that he was now settled in the UK and he would abide by an electronic curfew, but Judge Khokar rejected the application.
