Police obliged to release details of fugitive fleeing rape charges

North Yorkshire Police last night released full details and a photograph of Yuan Wei Zhang, a 26-year-old Chinese national who went on the run after he repeatedly raped a young woman in Scarborough in 2007.

Zhang was arrested soon after the offences but then disappeared while on bail, and had to be tried and sentenced in his absence at York Crown Court. He has been on the run for the last 19 months.

But in response to a Freedom of Information request relating to missing sex offenders in the county, North Yorkshire Police initially barred release of Zhang's details, suggesting it would go against "the right of the individual to privacy" under the European Convention on Human Rights.

But senior officers at North Yorkshire met yesterday to review the decision and later released Zhang's details, along with a statement that the force "has now clarified its position".

Chief Inspector Kerrin Smith, head of North Yorkshire Police's protecting vulnerable people unit, said: "Extensive enquiries have been ongoing since Zhang was sentenced in his absence after he failed to appear for trial at York Crown Court for rape offences against a woman.

"Intelligence reports lead us to believe that he left the UK, and therefore the investigation to locate him has concentrated in his home country of China, with the assistance of Interpol and the UK Border Agency.

"It was for this reason that there was no investigative requirement to release the identity and photograph of the offender in the Yorkshire region and the UK.

"The victim has been kept up to date with the investigation and our attempts to trace him. She has since moved from the area. However, in the interests of reassuring people in North Yorkshire and the wider community, we feel there is no reason to withhold Zhang's identity in this case. We would ask the public to notify the police if they have any information to Zhang's whereabouts.

"I hope this clarifies the force's position and we apologise for any confusion and concern that has been raised."

Zhang, who lived in London at the time of the offence, first befriended his victim by email, before travelling to Scarborough to meet her in June 2007. He then took her to an address in the town where he subjected her to three brutal rapes.

He was arrested a few days later and charged with three counts of rape, before bailed to attend York Crown Court for trial.

He failed to attend and was convicted in his absence in July 2008. A warrant has been out for his arrest ever since.

North Yorkshire Police said Zhang is currently the only missing sex offender on their records.

The initial failure to release the details echoes an infamous case in Derbyshire in 2007,

On that occasion, officers refused to release photographs of two murderers from Manchester who had escaped from Sudbury open prison.

Despite both killers being on the run, the Derbyshire force said there was "no proper policing purpose" in releasing their pictures and claimed the men posed no risk to local residents because they were thought to have left the county.

The police added that the Chief Constable, David Coleman, had to take into account "the Human Rights and Data Protection Acts" before releasing any images.

This claim was described as "absolute nonsense" by the then-Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer, and dismissed by the human rights group Liberty.

The photographs were later released by Greater Manchester Police.