A MAN on trial accused of helping a Bradford murderer flee the country did not know he was on the run until he saw his photo on the Telegraph & Argus website, a jury heard.
Londoner Faisal Chaudhary had no idea that Danish Irfan was wanted for killing his wife when he gave him a bed for the night and arranged delivery of £1,000 to him, Bradford Crown Court was told yesterday.
He later looked up his name on the internet and saw his photo on the T&A's website with news that an international arrest warrant had been issued for him, it is alleged.
Chaudhary told the police Nouman Qureshi asked if one of his cousins could stay overnight.
Qureshi told him the next day that Irfan's father was very ill and he needed money to travel to Pakistan.
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Chaudhary, 34, of Grantham Road, Ilford, Essex; Javaid Awan, 33, of Blackburn Road, Ilford; and Muhammed Qureshi, 39, of Pembroke Avenue, Luton, Bedfordshire, all deny conspiracy to pervert the course of public justice by assisting Irfan to escape.
Nouman Qureshi, 33, of Duchywood, Heaton, Bradford, has admitted the offence.
It is alleged that all four men assisted Irfan to flee the country on an Emirates flight to Islamabad less than 36 hours after he murdered his wife, Ridda Zanab, on November 3, 2013.
The jury has heard that he checked into Heathrow Airport on a false passport within 36 hours of carrying out the killing.
Mrs Zanab, 21, was murdered by 22-year-old Irfan at their home in Alford Terrace, Lidget Green, Bradford.
He returned to the UK from Pakistan in February last year and was convicted of murder at Bradford Crown Court in July.
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Prosecutor Jonathan Sharp alleges that Muhammed Qureshi, who worked at Heathrow Airport for Pakistan International Airways, Choudhary, who was employed by Gerry's Offshore that dealt with visa applications to Pakistan, and Awan, who delivered the money and false passport, were all part of the escape plot.
The defence cases were set to begin today.
The trial continues.
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