UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News
An imam who fled the country after being convicted of historical sex attacks has been jailed for eleven and a half years.
Hifiz Rahman, 58, was found guilty of five sexual assaults at Queens Cross mosque in the West Midlands between March 1986 and August 1987.
He took a flight from Birmingham Airport to Bangladesh the day after his conviction last month.
Rahman was sentenced in his absence at Wolverhampton Crown Court.
Judge Nicholas Cartwright said the father-of-seven from Netherton, who had not attended some of his trial because he claimed he was too unwell, had deceived his victims and own solicitors by lying about being sick.
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