A shopkeeper is facing jail after being arrested for skipping a court sentencing hearing eighteen years ago.
Warwick Crown Court heard how Jagdip Randhawa, 43, had been “hiding in plain sight” since admitting handling stolen goods in 1999.
A warrant was issued for his arrest when he failed to appear in court for sentencing on March 19 of that year.
But he was only arrested last week when he and his wife stepped off a plane at Birmingham Airport as they returned from Alicante.
The shopkeeper, of Clarksland Grove, Marston Green, pleaded guilty to failing to surrender to bail in what was described by a judge as “one of the longest absences the court had ever encountered.”
The court heard Randhawa was due to be sentenced in 1999 after he pleaded guilty to handling a stolen laptop computer.
Another man had pleaded guilty to stealing two laptops from a hotel and an office in Meriden and was jailed for 12 months.
When Randhawa failed to appear in court on the same day a warrant was issued for his arrest.
Prosecutor Lee Egan said it would take “some considerable time” to track down the file on the case because it was so old.
He said Randhawa had convictions in the 1990s, but none since the handling offence.
Daniel Oscroft, defending, said: “This is a man who has lived a blameless life since 1998.
“He accepts he has no good excuse for failing to attend court on that day, but he has been hiding in plain sight for all of those years.”
He explained that at the time Randhawa lived in Wingfield Close, where his father owned a convenience store which he and his brother both still own and run.
Randhawa, who has been married for 15 years, continued to live in Wingfield Close until four or five years ago when he moved to Clarksland Grove.
“He has not sought to evade capture, he simply didn’t turn up on the day,” he said.
Judge Andrew Lockhart QC said it was “one of the longest absences this court has ever encountered.”
He agreed to adjourn the case for a pre-sentence report and granted Randhawa bail. But he imposed stringent conditions which included residence at his address in Clarksland Grove, a curfew, and that he surrenders his passport.
Judge Lockhart warned: “I am giving absolutely no indication other than that the likely outcome will be a significant and immediate custodial sentence.”
