Sex trafficker convicted in absence brought back to Sheffield Crown Court after being found in Switzerland
"I understand he was arrested in Switzerland this week and brought back to this country"
A convicted South Yorkshire sex trafficker found guilty at trial in his absence after fleeing the country has appeared before a Sheffield judge after his arrest in Switzerland this week.
21-year-old Sharam Muhamadi appeared unshaven in the dock in a long off-white t-shirt regarding a charge of failing to surrender to bail.
Addressing Muhamadi's barrister Lydia Carroll, Judge Sarah Wright said: "I understand he was arrested in Switzerland this week and brought back to this country."
Judge Wright said she understood Muhamadi speaks English; however, she was unsure whether he knew he had been convicted in his absence of two counts of trafficking for exploitation.
The judge noted a surety had been ordered to pay £19,000 to the court due to Muhamadi's absence.
Addressing Muhamadi, she said: "There's going to be a further hearing in your case on September 3. I remand you into custody."
Jurors convicted Sharam Muhamadi in his absence of two counts of arranging or facilitating the travel of another person with a view to exploitation on June 9, 2026.
Muhamadi, and his co-accused and friend, Bawan Harwe, formerly of Hexthorpe Road, Doncaster, trafficked seven young girls, arranging for them to be brought from another part of South Yorkshire to addresses linked to them in Doncaster.
After plying the girls with alcohol and drugs, Harwe then sexually abused six of the seven girls. All seven complainants were aged between 12 and 15-years-old at the time of the offences.
Some of the girls were friends and were taken together, in pairs, to be sexually abused by Harwe in Doncaster.
Many of the girls described feeling as though their lives have split into two - the time before they were subjected to horrific and degrading abuse in Doncaster and the time after.
During a June 2026 sentencing hearing, Harwe, then aged 28, Judge Sarah Wright jailed him for 29 years.
She adjourned sentence for Muhamadi during the same hearing.
At the conclusion of their Sheffield Crown Court trial, Muhamadi, formerly of Hexthorpe Road, Doncaster, was cleared of one count of rape of a girl under 13, one count of rape of a girl aged 13/14/15 and two counts of arranging or facilitating travel of another person with a view of exploitation. A charge of sexual assault on a female was dropped during court proceedings.