A rapist who held a woman at knifepoint and threatened to kill her is on the run after being mistakenly freed from prison – fleeing the UK on the Eurostar within hours. Bernadin Dedic, 48, a businessman from Ealing, west London, had been remanded in custody last year facing nine charges including four counts of rape. But in February, a court official wrongly told HMP Wormwood Scrubs that he had been granted bail, and he was released. By the time the error was discovered, Dedic had already boarded the Eurostar and returned to his native Bosnia.
The attack that led to his imprisonment was described in harrowing detail at Isleworth Crown Court this month. Dedic, high on cocaine and having drunk as much as four bottles of red wine, lured the woman to his basement after she turned down his offer of ‘no strings attached’ sex. “When downstairs, she turned towards the stairs and saw him, holding a red-handled oriental kitchen knife,” prosecutor Simon Sandford told the court. “He stepped towards her, took hold of her and said he would kill her and then kill himself. She was extremely frightened but tried to calm him down. He said if she screamed, she wouldn’t be heard.” Dedic slapped her in the face, told her to “shut up”, used the knife to cut off her sports bra and top, and ordered her to remove the rest of her clothing. “She was terrified and was prepared to do whatever he said,” Sandford added. The ordeal lasted for several hours, involving a series of rapes and sexual assaults.
“Rapist Bernadin Dedic fled to Bosnia after mistaken release; convicted in absence on nine counts.”
From his safe haven in Bosnia, Dedic put forward a litany of excuses for not returning to face justice, including claims of a heart attack and a skiing accident. He sent messages saying he wanted to come back but was struggling to obtain a visa, while being represented in court by a leading barrister. On Tuesday, a jury convicted him on all nine counts in his absence. If he fails to return for his sentencing hearing, UK authorities are expected to begin extradition proceedings so that he can serve what the court described as the inevitable lengthy jail term. The case has reignited questions about how a prisoner accused of such violent crimes could be set free by an administrative error.