Fugitive jailed over deaths of cyclists in 1999

Huseyin Ozkara was found after detectives trawled social media

A man who went on the run for 24 years after being found guilty of causing the deaths of two cyclists has been jailed after he was tracked down in France.

Bryan Kenealy, 69, and his friend Roger Harris, 66, were killed when they were struck in a crash caused by Huseyin Ozkara in Tarporley, Cheshire, in 1999.

Ozkara, now 53, failed to attend court for his sentencing in September 2000.

Detectives eventually tracked him down after spotting him on social media and he was jailed for 12 years and eight months for two counts of causing death by dangerous driving.

Denied justice

Mr Kenealy, from Liverpool, and Mr Harris, from Crewe, were cycling together on 2 November 1999 when Ozkara failed to stop and give way at the junction of Wood Lane and Willington Lane, near Clotton.

He crashed into another car and in turn the vehicles hit the two cyclists.

Ozkara featured in a BBC Crimewatch appeal but remained at large until a cold case review by Cheshire Police last year.

Det Ch Insp Amber Hodson said: “Ozkara was always on our radar, however, with technology rapidly improving the tools of our trade in recent years, our ability to find those who deny victims and their families the justice they deserve, quadruples."

She said detectives found him after using new technology to trawl social media.

'Cowardly'

Images of a man matching Ozkara with a different surname led officers to France and working with French authorities managed to find him and extradite him.

She said police believe Ozkara lived illegally in France under an alias since 2000.

The officer said it was a "bittersweet moment" to finally see him being sentenced on Thursday at Chester Crown Court.

"This should have happened decades ago, but Ozkara selfishly denied families closure and has brought long-suffering hurt and distress to the families," she said.

In a victim impact statement, Mr Harris's daughter said she was traumatised by her father’s violent death and the impact was intolerable for her mother who spent years trying to find "cowardly" Ozkara.

She died 10 years after her husband.