A KIDNAPPER fled to Sweden in an attempt to avoid criminal charges in Basildon.

Bakall Ahmad was arrested in August 2013 on suspicion of kidnapping and assaulting a 50-year-old man in Basildon the previous month.

He was due to answer bail in September, when he was going to be charged, but he failed to attend and instead went on the run.

Police carried out extensive enquiries to find him and he was eventually tracked to Sweden, where he was born.

Investigating officer, DC Tara Shepherd, secured a European Arrest Warrant and he was extradited to the UK in August 2015.

Ahmad, 22, of no fixed abode, stood trial at Basildon Crown Court last month and was found guilty of kidnap and two counts of common assault.

He was sentenced yesterday to 18 months in prison for kidnap and two months for each count of assault, to run concurrently.

Ms Shepherd said: "Ahmad tried to evade the judicial process but we were determined to bring him before the courts and now justice is done."

Co-defendant Foyez Ahmed, 23, of Atkinson Road, London, was charged with two counts of kidnap and one of assault.

He denied the charges but was found guilty following a trial in February 2014 and jailed for three years.