Men arrested at Manchester Airport after trying to flee trial

Two men, who tried to flee the country part way through a trial over the death of a man, have been caught at Manchester Airport.

Osama Saeed, 32, and Asgar Taj, 35, fled in October 2023, during their trial for causing the death of Asad Rashid, 34, who was hit in a street race between two cars and two motorcyclists on the A34 Handforth bypass on 15 September 2020.

They previously pled guilty to the charge after dialling into the court from abroad but both men failed to return to court for their sentencing.

Cheshire Police arrested the pair at Manchester Airport on Monday after they travelled to the UK from Abu Dhabi.

Appearing at Minshull Street Crown Court on Monday, Saeed, of St Pauls Road, Bradford and Taj, of Heather Grove, Bradford, received 12 years for causing death by dangerous driving.

A third defendant, Mohammad Zubair Chaudhry, 31 of Kingsway, Cheadle, who also pleaded guilty to the offence, was previously sentenced to 10 years seven months despite being absent from court in December.

Enquiries to locate him were ongoing, police said.

During the incident, Chaudry was driving an Audi R8 and Saeed was in an Audi RS3, while Taj and Rashid were riding Suzuki motorbikes.

The group travelled to Cheshire from Manchester along the A34, as they passed under the A555 bridge all four drivers lined up at the traffic lights ready to race, police said.

The level of acceleration put the vehicles out of sight within seconds before they all collided with a roundabout at about 22:10 BST.

Chaudhry’s Audi R8 hit first, tearing off the underside of the engine flying through the roundabout to end up 135m (148 yards) further down the A34.

Rashid was struck by the RS3 as it hit the central reservation, became trapped by the vehicle and died at the scene.

Members of the public stopped to assist the injured men and as one of them approached Taj as he lay on the roundabout, they noticed he was clearly deleting files from Instagram, before then deleting the app itself in an attempt to destroy evidence.

Police said “shocking” mobile phone footage that was seized showed “trophy videos” where Chaudhury was driving at “unbelievable speeds” in a built-up area.

During the sentencing, Judge Jason Macadam said that the men had deliberately absconded and that they “had done everything they could to avoid the consequences of their actions”.