The hunt for Britain's most wanted man
The hunt for Britain's Chinese fugitive accused of murdering business partner and his family was finally tracked down a year later and 1,900 kilometres away
When the police chief of Tangier came face-to-face with a suspected illegal immigrant, little did he know he had in his custody Britain's most wanted man.
He gave them no other details and held no documentation, so officers contacted the Chinese embassy in Morocco, but drew a blank. Finally he was released because they could not determine his identity or nationality.
Five days earlier and 1,900 kilometres away, university lecturer Ding Jifeng, his wife Helen, and their two daughters 18-year-old Xing and Alice, 12, had been brutally stabbed to death at their home in the village of Wootton, near Northampton in England.
Police took the unusual step of naming Helen's former business partner Du Anxiang as the man they believed was the murderer. What they didn't do was release details about the 54 year-old suspect - a British citizen since 2004 - to foreign police.
Fifteen months later Bellahfid sat across from the same man in the same interview room. This time he knew who the man in his custody was.
Now after almost two years, British police have finally brought their man home to face justice. The fugitive landed back in Britain on Wednesday last week, and has since appeared in court ahead of his trial later this year.