Carlos Ghosn: Father and son sentenced for helping ex-Nissan boss escape

An American father and son have been sentenced for their role in ex-Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn's escape from Japan in 2019.

The Tokyo court sentenced US Special Forces veteran Michael Taylor to two years in prison.

His son Peter was handed a term of one year and eight months.

The pair were extradited from the US over claims they smuggled Mr Ghosn out of Japan in a luggage box on a private jet as he awaited trial.

Japanese prosecutors had been seeking prison terms of two years and 10 months for Michael Taylor and two years and six months for Peter.

They were accused of orchestrating Mr Ghosn's escape to Lebanon from western Japan's Kansai airport in December 2019 and receiving $1.3m (£950,000) for their services.

Both had earlier pleaded guilty to the charges and said that they regretted their actions.

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Private security specialist Michael Taylor and his son Peter fought a months-long battle to avoid extradition over the case, before the US Supreme Court handed them over to the Japanese authorities in March.

The former Nissan boss is now an international fugitive living in his childhood home of Lebanon, which has no extradition treaty with Japan.

Mr Ghosn was on bail while awaiting trial on four counts of financial misconduct, which he denies, when he managed to slip past authorities in a case and onto a private jet, the court heard.

US prosecutors called his escape "one of the most brazen and well-orchestrated escape acts in recent history".

Michael Taylor and his son Peter posed as musicians to help Carlos Ghosn escape

After his arrival in Lebanon, Mr Ghosn said he was a "hostage" in Japan, left with a choice between dying there or running.

A Turkish court convicted an executive of Turkish jet company MNG and two pilots over their role in flying him out of Japan.

Mr Ghosn was first arrested on charges of financial misconduct in November 2018 for allegedly under-reporting his pay package for the five years to 2015.

In an exclusive interview with the BBC broadcast earlier this month, Mr Ghosn told of how he disguised himself to slip unnoticed through the streets of Tokyo, why a large music equipment box was chosen to smuggle him out of Japan and the elation he felt when he finally landed in his native Lebanon.

You can watch Storyville Carlos Ghosn: The Last Flight on iPlayer.