Man went on the run to Thailand and then overstayed his welcome

An ex-world champion fighter has been jailed after going on the run in Thailand. Luke Atkin fled to Thailand before members of his organised crime group were jailed for 44 years last year.

Atkin, a twice former world champion bare-knuckle boxer, fled to Thailand as members of the gang he was affiliated with were put behind bars at Bradford Crown Court in October last year. The 37-year-old, originally of Warrington, instead fled the country.

He was sentenced to 10 years, in his absence, for conspiracy to supply class A drugs. Atkin was recently arrested in Thailand on suspicion of a separate incident and overstaying his welcome.

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He was held in a Thai jail after being arrested before being deported to the UK where he appeared in front of a court last week during a brief hearing at Bradford Crown Court. Four months was added to his sentence for failing to surrender.

During his involvement in the drug gang, he would make regular trips from his home in Warrington to North Yorkshire where he would meet other members of the OCG and deal drugs.

The gang he worked for was taken apart by North Yorkshire Police’s Organised Crime Unit, which seized huge amounts of class-A drugs worth more than £50,000 during a large-scale investigation in 2022 and 2023.