R@pist released in UK by mistake flees to Bosnia

A  convicted r@pist who held a woman at knifepoint and threatened to kill her is now on the run after being accidentally freed from prison.

Bernadin Dedic, 48, had been drinking red wine and using cocaine when he pulled out a knife and told the woman she “wouldn’t be heard” if she screamed during the attack. He cut off her clothes before subjecting her to a series of r@pes and s3xual assaults that lasted several hours.

Dedic, a businessman living in Ealing, west London, was remanded in custody last year after being charged with four counts of r@pe, two counts of s3xual assault by penetration, causing a person to engage in s3xual activity without consent, threatening a person with a knife in a private place, and making a threat to kill.

But in February, he was mistakenly set free from HMP Wormwood Scrubs after a court official wrongly told the prison that he had been granted bail. Within hours, Dedic had left the UK on the Eurostar and returned to his home country of Bosnia.

He offered a series of excuses for not returning to face justice, including claims of a heart attack and a skiing accident. He remained in Bosnia as his trial went ahead this month at Isleworth Crown Court. On Tuesday, June 9, a jury convicted Dedic on all nine counts in his absence. If he fails to return for sentencing, UK authorities are expected to begin extradition proceedings so he can be brought back to serve what is expected to be a lengthy prison term.

Prosecutor Simon Sandford told the court that Dedic carried out the attacks at his west London home shortly after separating from his partner. Dedic is thought to have consumed as many as four bottles of red wine and snorted lines of cocaine before luring the woman to his basement after she had turned down his offer of “no strings attached” s3x.

“When downstairs, she turned towards the stairs and saw him, holding a red-handled oriental kitchen knife,” the prosecutor said. “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 the woman in the face and told her to “shut up,” used the knife to cut off her sports bra and top, and then ordered her to remove the rest of her clothing, the court heard. “She was terrified and was prepared to do whatever he said.”

Dedic, who was represented in court by a leading barrister, sent messages saying he wanted to return to stand trial but claimed to be struggling to obtain a visa. His UK passport had been seized by the Metropolitan Police during the r@pe investigation, but after being freed from prison he used his Bosnian passport to book a seat on the Eurostar.

Efforts were made by a senior judge, police officers, and Border Force agents to facilitate Dedic’s return for a trial in March, but at the last moment Dedic told his lawyers he could not travel due to a knee injury from a skiing accident.

Judge Martin Edmunds KC, the Recorder of Kensington and Chelsea, reluctantly agreed to delay the trial from March to June so Dedic could recover and fly to the UK. But in June, Dedic again failed to show up in court and claimed to have suffered a heart attack in Sarajevo.

Hearing the news, Judge Hannah Duncan said she was “far from convinced he has had a heart attack” but asked for medical reports to determine what had really happened. The following day, with Dedic no longer represented in court after failing to pay his lawyers, the judge decided the trial would proceed without him.

She noted that he had only sought medical help after telling the court he was experiencing chest pain, tests showed his heart rate was normal, and he was discharged from the hospital. “This is yet another attempt by Mr Dedic to obstruct, manipulate and avoid justice,” the judge concluded.

At earlier hearings, it was revealed that Dedic had been accidentally freed from prison on February 6 after a court official mixed up digital case files and mistakenly recorded that he had been granted bail. The notice of bail was then sent to the prison, which carried out his release.

Judge Edmunds said in his ruling: “Although such errors are extremely rare, and indeed this is the only instance I am aware of when there has been an erroneous release of a prisoner held in custody to this court, we take this error extremely seriously. We will fully investigate how it occurred and what steps can be put in place to prevent it occurring again.”

After the accidental release was uncovered, HM Courts and Tribunals Service launched an investigation. A spokesperson said: “We understand the distress errors such as this can cause to those affected and instances like this have exposed deep-rooted issues across the broken justice system the Government inherited.”