Suspect Maboob Bostan
A man who fled the UK after being charged with rape over 25 years ago has been jailed for the offenses, as well as a further count of rape that came to light after a forensics breakthrough.
Maboob Bostan used a false passport to leave the country while on bail after being charged with sex offenses in 1998. He faced charges of rape in connection with an incident involving a teenage female in Batley in January 1997 as well as a woman in her 20s in February 1998.
In 2006, a review was undertaken by Operation Recall, West Yorkshire Police’s specialist investigation team looking into forensic evidence developments in relation to sexual offenses.
A breakthrough in DNA evidence linked Bostan to a further rape involving a female victim aged in her 30s in Manningham Park, Bradford, which took place in September 1997.
Attempts were made to extradite Bostan from Pakistan, where he was found to be living.
Bostan was arrested at Manchester Airport in January this year when he flew back into the country of his own accord. He was then charged with the further Bradford offense.
He was due to stand trial in July this year, but entered guilty pleas to the three rape charges at the start of his trial. Appearing before Leeds Crown Court for sentencing recently, Bostan, aged 54, was jailed for 24 years with an extended licence period of six years.
“First and foremost, my thoughts go out to the victims in this case who have had to wait so long to see justice being done. I hope this brings some comfort and closure to them," said Detective Inspector Stephen King of West Yorkshire Police’s Major Investigation Review Team. “Maboob Bostan chose to flee the country rather than be answerable for his crimes, but we never gave up on bringing him to justice. We sought his extradition back to the United Kingdom as recently as 2022 after further investigation by the Operation Recall team provided us with a forensics breakthrough that linked him to the Bradford offence. I have no doubt that Bostan is a dangerous individual and a risk to females wherever he is, so I’m pleased that justice has finally been done and he has been given a lengthy jail sentence. We have specialist child and adult safeguarding teams working across West Yorkshire and I would urge anyone who has been the victim of sexual offences to contact us.”
Republished courtesy of West Yorkshire Police.