Man from Keighley jailed for child sex offences after a decade on the run

Chowdhury, pictured here in 2013, has been jailed for eight years. Credit: West Yorkshire Police

The ringleader of a child sex abuse gang who fled the country as a teenager has been jailed after a decade on the run.

Ahamed Al Arif Chowdhury, from Keighley in West Yorkshire, disappeared before he was due to face trial for exploiting a vulnerable 13-year-old girl in 2011.

He was aged 15 when he raped the girl in the grounds of a church.

He also forced her to have sex with nine other men.

Twelve others had already been given prison sentences totalling 140 years for rape and sexual offences after a trial in 2015.

Chowdhury, now 28, was arrested after he arrived in the UK on a flight from Bangladesh in June 2022.

He was found guilty of one count of rape and 12 counts of aiding and abetting the rape of a girl after a trial and has been jailed for eight years.

Det Ch Sup Int Nicola Bryar, of West Yorkshire Police, said: "This has been a painstaking investigation, culminating in years of work and we are so pleased to see Chowdhury sentenced for these terrible crimes against a vulnerable young girl.

"I would like to praise the victim for her outstanding courage in coming forward and staying with this prosecution after so many years."

She added that the victim "had to endure one trial a number of years ago and due to Chowdhury fleeing the country before he was charged, she has now had to endure another".

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