A former company director has gone on the run after being found guilty of child sex offences.
Mark Tilley, 60, was charged with multiple counts of raping and indecently assaulting a girl under the age of 14. The offences happened in the 1990s.
Shortly before lunch on Thursday, the jury found Tilley, who was the director of a Warrington-based Instrument Consultant Technical Services Ltd, guilty of all six charges. But the dock at the back of Teesside Crown Court was empty, TeesideLive reports.
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Judge Stephen Ashurst told the court that Tilley was spotted leaving his home on Ramsey Walk in Guisborough at 8.30am, but he was "headed in the opposite direction of the court. His car was last seen on the North York Moors."
A warrant has been issued for Tilley's arrest and Cleveland Police said they are urgently appealing to trace missing Tilley.
The force said he is described as 5ft 5” to 5ft 6” tall, slim build and was last seen wearing crocs, black tracksuit bottoms and a grey hooded top.
A spokesman said: "He may be travelling in a black Mercedes c180 and may have headed towards the North Yorkshire area. The registration of the vehicle is M777 MYT.
"Officers are extremely concerned for his welfare and would ask anyone who may know of his whereabouts or anyone who may have sighted the vehicle heading into the south of Cleveland or the North Yorkshire area to contact them as a matter of urgency on 101, quoting incident number 030311."
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