A suspect from Burnley, England, who was wanted for assaulting a police officer has eventually been brought to justice nearly two years later.
According to international publications, the suspect was treated as a missing persons for two years as detectives had issued a warrant of arrest against him.
However, reports showed that at the time, he had flown to Kenya to do voluntary work.
Steve Woodman, a State Prosecutor in England, affirmed that the suspect was ready to travel back to Burnley, England when he was flagged down by airport immigration officials on suspicion of having a warrant of arrest against him.
Woodman added that the offense dated back to December 2019 when police officers were responding to a public order incident in Oak Street, Burnley.
As soon as the police knocked on the suspect's door, he came out bare-chested and began ranting at them.
"He blamed his neighbours for the disturbance and said he would be “going round there”. He went towards a knife in the kitchen and the officer took hold of him and said he was being arrested."
“At that point he became violent and started kicking the officer,” Woodman stated.
However, the suspect's lawyer argued that at the time, his client was struggling with depression.
"He felt isolated and that his neighbours were getting at him,” Williams stated. “He didn’t trust anyone and felt everyone was against him.”
His lawyer noted that the incident prompted his client to disappear for months which led him to become the subject of a missing persons inquiry.
“He had in fact gone to Kenya to do voluntary work and that is where he has been until he flew back into the country two days ago,” Williams pointed out.
