Ealing Businessman Convicted in Absentia of Nine Sexual Offences After Erroneous Prison Release

Isleworth Crown Court convicted Bernadin Dedic on Tuesday of four counts of rape, two counts of sexual assault by penetration, forcing someone to engage in sexual activity without consent, threatening a person with a blade, and issuing death threats.

The 48-year-old Ealing-based businessman did not attend the proceedings. Prosecutors told the court that Dedic attacked the woman at his west London residence shortly after the end of a relationship.

He had consumed red wine and cocaine before luring the victim into the basement, where she saw him holding a red-handled oriental kitchen knife. Prosecutor Simon Sanford said Dedic told her he would kill her and then kill himself. Dedic then cut off her clothing and subjected her to a multi-hour assault, the court heard.

Dedic had been held at HMP Wormwood Scrubs before the trial. A court official entered incorrect bail data into the system, which prompted the prison to release him on February 6. Metropolitan Police officers had taken his British passport during the investigation, but he used a second passport issued by his country of birth to board a Eurostar train hours after his release and travel to Bosnia.

Judge Martin Edmunds KC said the error was extremely rare and that the court took it extremely seriously. Authorities, including police and Border Force agents, tried to secure his return for a March hearing. Dedic claimed a knee injury prevented travel, leading Judge Edmunds to postpone the case until June.

He later said he had suffered a heart attack in Sarajevo. Judge Hannah Duncan said she was far from convinced he had suffered a heart attack and asked for medical documentation. Dedic had also stopped paying his lawyers, leaving him without representation when the judge ordered the trial to proceed in his absence.