A MAN who attacked a former housemate in the street, slashing his head with a craft knife, has been convicted in his absence after going on the run.
Although there is no record of Behrooz Rashidi having used his own passport to leave the country, he is believed to have fled to Baghdad.
Rashidi (38) of Jenner Street, Coventry, had previously pleaded not guilty to wounding Karwan Ahmed with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and possessing an offensive weapon.
And after hearing that it was the second time he had failed to turn up to stand trial at Warwick Crown Court, Judge Anthony Potter ordered it to go ahead in his absence.
Rashidi, who was convicted of both charges, had contacted his solicitor to say he would be returning within a few days – so the judge adjourned sentencing to give him the chance to do so.
But when he still failed to attend, Judge Potter jailed him in his absence for eight years.
A warrant has been issued for his arrest, and when he is caught he will be taken to the court to begin his jail term and to be sentenced for breaching his bail.
The jury had heard that some years ago Rashidi and Mr Ahmed had lived in the same accommodation where they had shared the bills – and there was a dispute over who owed what.
In January 2017 Rashidi saw Mr Ahmed in Foleshill Road and, without warning, launched an attack on him, slashing him with a craft knife, causing wounds to his head.
“By good fortune a police officer happened to be in the vicinity and rushed over and detained Rashidi,” said prosecutor John O’Higgins.
“Pc Declan Jones saw one man repeatedly striking the head and upper body of the other man. He ran over. One of the men was covered in blood and looking frightened and asking for help.”
A CCTV camera showed that as Pc Jones approached him, Rashidi switched the craft knife from one hand to the other and surreptitiously discarded it under a nearby car – but it was recovered and found to have Mr Ahmed’s blood on the blade.
“He had three wounds to his head. The injuries are quite small but, as with most head wounds, there was a lot of blood.”
Because of his absence during the trial, Rashidi could not give evidence, but he had claimed to the police that he was acting in self-defence.
He asserted it was Mr Ahmed who had the knife and started the fight, and that he had got it off him and thrown it away – but he accepted it was the type of knife he used in his work at Jaguar Land Rover.
It was the second time he had failed to turn up after the case had been listed for trial, but on the previous occasion a judge had refused to let it go ahead in his absence after being told he was in Iraq and had promised to return.
He did so and was again granted bail.
Lynette McClement, prosecuting at the sentencing hearing, said: “He is not at any known location in the UK. He was granted British nationality in 2015, and he has been circulated as wanted.
“The Border Agency says he did not leave the UK on his British passport. He has plainly left the country on a passport we know nothing about.”
Of the offence, Richard Gibbs, defending, said: “It’s right this was a sustained assault on the victim, and there was a knife, but in terms of the injuries, unpleasant though they were, they are less serious in the context of such an offence.”
Passing sentence, Judge Potter said: “Mr Rashidi was convicted of wounding with intent and having an offensive weapon, a craft knife which the jury found he had taken to the scene.
“The trial proceeded in his absence because it emerged he had left the country, contrary to warnings given to him in September following his failure to attend for his earlier trial.
“Because he sent protestations that he was due to return to the United Kingdom and said he had a flight booked, I decided that I should give him that opportunity and adjourned until today.
“Mercifully, despite a sustained, deliberate attack, the injuries were not of the most serious.”
The judge ordered that, if Rashidi has not been arrested by then, there should be a review of the bench warrant in May.
