A convicted rapist claims he alerted prison guards to their mistake as he was wrongly released from HMP Wormwood Scrubs earlier this year, before promptly fleeing the UK. Bernadin Dedic, 48, had been remanded in custody in February, awaiting trial on allegations of repeatedly raping a woman at knifepoint. The blunder saw the jail mistakenly informed he had been granted bail, leading to his release. Within hours, he boarded a Eurostar, escaping Britain. Dedic asserts he knew a judge had not approved his bail and even attempted to convince prison staff to keep him incarcerated.
“They told me I was released,” he told the Press Association. “I said: ‘Let me stay the weekend, this is a mistake.’ But they pushed me out.”
Dedic was arrested on suspicion of rape last September and had been remanded in custody to await the trial, which was set for March. An official at Isleworth Crown Court mistakenly mixed up the digital case files following a hearing on February 6 and wrongly concluded that Dedic had been given bail – in a message that was then transmitted to the prison.
Dedic said his legal team had previously tried and failed to secure bail, including with an offer of an £80,000 surety, as well as conditions that he live at a friend’s house in Milton Keynes, did not enter London, and reported regularly to the police. When he was released from the west London prison, he called his lawyers and also spoke to friends. He said friends “all told me you don’t have a fair trial, go away and try from there”.
The father-of-two, who has a home and business interests in the UK, returned to his native country of Bosnia and did not return for the trial in March, initially sending messages through his lawyers to say that he had a problem obtaining a visa. When his travel difficulties had been ironed out thanks to interventions from police, a judge, and the Border Force, Dedic said he could not fly as he had injured his knee in a skiing accident. The re-arranged trial, in June, then went ahead without him after Dedic sent messages to say that he had suffered chest pains on his way to the airport.
In his absence, jurors found Dedic guilty of four charges of rape, two counts of sexual assault by penetration, causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent, threatening a person with a knife when in a private place, and making a threat to kill. When asked if he plans to return to London to be sentenced, Dedic replied: “No.”
Dedic, who entered not guilty pleas to all the charges before fleeing the UK, says he does not want to go to prison and suggested he also cannot return on a plane due to a fear of enclosed spaces. The trial heard evidence that Dedic had drunk red wine and snorted cocaine before holding the victim at knifepoint, cutting off her clothes, and threatening to kill her and himself. “She was terrified and was prepared to do whatever he said,” said prosecutor Simon Sandford, of the sexual attacks that followed.
Judge Hannah Duncan concluded she was “far from convinced he has had a heart attack” when she decided to have a trial in Dedic’s absence. She said: “This is yet another attempt by Mr Dedic to obstruct, manipulate and avoid justice.”
The Ministry of Justice said it is making changes after an independent review by Dame Lynne Owens into the problem of prisoners being accidentally set free. “We fully understand the distress these types of errors will cause and action has already been taken to address errors made in this case,” a spokesperson said. “More broadly this Government is investing £82 million to digitise and improve the archaic paper-based release systems we inherited to bear down on these mistakes and keep the public safe. Our focus now is working closely with the police and CPS to return this offender to custody so they can face justice.”
A review hearing in Dedic’s case is scheduled to take place on July 7. No date for sentencing has yet been set.
