On the loose, rapist who leapt from the dock
A RAPIST is on the run after leaping out of a courtroom dock and fleeing just moments after being found guilty of attacking a 16-year-old girl.
Bradley Tout, 20, dodged three prison officers and two barristers. And as alarms blared in Worcester Crown Court he bolted through its atrium, past security guards at the main entrance and out into the street.
Police are now hunting Tout following his brazen escape at about 4pm on Wednesday, which came seconds after the guilty verdict was handed down.
Addressing the jury afterwards, Judge Nicolas Cartwright said: ‘Well, I’ve never seen anything like that happen before.’
Tout and his co-defendant Kulin Odedra, 28, were found guilty by unanimous verdict of attacking the teenage girl in a car park at Worcestershire County Hall and in secluded woodland on the night of December 27, 2016.
Tout, of Worcester, was convicted of a single count of rape while Odedra, also of Worcester, was convicted one of attempted of two rape counts and of one rape, of assault by penetration.
During the trial the girl told how she was plied with alcohol and cannabis by the men after they picked her up in Tout’s car. After the guilty verdicts were delivered, members of Tout’s family sitting in the public gallery shouted: ‘He’s innocent.’
A witness in court said: ‘Seconds before he escaped, Tout had both hands on the dock. He then vaulted over, catching his feet on the edge, stumbling as he ran away. He regained his balance but crashed hard into a wall with his shoulder and then into another wall as he sprinted through a corridor, out of the courtroom. ‘The alarms were going off all over the court.’ A custody officer from private security firm Geoamey who fell while chasing Tout was later treated in hospital for suspected broken ribs. Yesterday Tout was sentenced to seven- and- a- half years in his absence while Odedra was jailed for 11-and-a-half years. West Mercia Police said Tout is 5ft 8in tall with short mousey brown hair, and was wearing a white top and dark trousers when he escaped. Superintendent Paul Moxley said: ‘We have launched a thorough search for Tout. Anyone who is knowingly assisting Tout or harbouring him should also expect to be arrested.’