Huseyin Ozkara was initially sentenced to 12 years and eight months in prison but the term was slashed because the sentencing judge was found to have made an error
16:51, 25 Apr 2026
Huseyin Ozkara was on the run for decades before he was extradited back to the UK(Image: Cheshire Constabulary)
A dangerous driver who went on the run for 24 years after killing two cyclists has had his sentence slashed following a successful appeal. Huseyin Ozkara, now 54, was convicted of killing friends Bryan Kenealy, from Woolton, and Roger Harris, of Crewe, in 1999.
Ozkara, who was living in Ellesmere Port at the time, refused to give way at a junction and ploughed into a Range Rover, which in turn struck and killed the two cyclists. But before he could be sentenced Ozkara, who had been bailed following his conviction, fled the UK.
He returned back to his native Turkey and spent time travelling between his home country and Greece before settling in France. But following a cold case review by Cheshire Constabulary’s force intelligence unit in 2023, it was established Ozkara was living illegally in France and efforts were made to extradite him back to the UK to face justice.
Ozkara was sentenced to 12 years and eight months in prison in May 2024 at Chester Crown Court. But following an appearance before the Court of Appeal last month, Ozkara’s sentenced was significantly reduced after the high court judges deemed the original judge had wrongly categorised the offender’s culpability.
Mr Kenealy, 69, an active racing member of the Merseyside group, Veterans Time Trials Association, had met Mr Harris, 66 and part of the Maghull-based Liverpool Mercury Cycling Club, at Delamere station before embarking on a cycling trip. But Ozkara, who told the trial he had “lost my concentration” after an argument with his wife, ploughed through the junction because he “thought the road was clear”.
After Ozkara left the UK Cheshire detectives made multiple attempts to locate him and featured him on BBC’s Crimewatch. Although there was no record of him leaving the UK, the missing man appeared to have come to the attention of French police in 2008 and 2009.
Detectives used specialist technology to trawl social media and found pictures of a man matching Ozkara but with a different surname. After liaising with the French authorities, Cheshire police found an address for Ozkara and determined he had been living illegally under an alias.
The sentencing judge at Chester Crown Court told Ozkara: “You decided in your foul mood from what I can see that you were going to carry on come what may. And that’s what you did. You didn’t care about the road. You may not have given any thought to whether there was anybody on the road, albeit you should have seen them, you just carried on. As a result, there was this shocking crash.”
However, Ozkara’s counsel submitted to the Court of Appeal that the judge had been wrong to categorise the crimes as a category A offence when it came to determining specific sentencing guidelines. The defence lawyer said Ozkara was a “person who paid insufficient attention and was distracted to the point of being dangerous”, instead of carrying out an “obviously highly dangerous manoeuvre”.
The three high court judges – Lord Justice Lewis, Justice Stacey and Justice Williams – found the sentencing judge did not have the evidence to determine that Ozkara had been in a foul mood. “We do not see on what evidence the judge could base that conclusion,” they said.
“He was not the trial judge and had not heard the evidence. The only material before him was in effect the probation report which referred to the appellant being preoccupied because of an argument that he had with his wife that morning.”
The judges quashed Ozkara’s original sentence and instead substituted it for one of eight years in prison. They left in place the seven years’ driving disqualification. The reduction in sentence means Ozkara could be released late next year as part of the government’s early release scheme.
The ECHO reported at the time of Ozkara’s conviction how the Kenealy family had previously been touched by tragedy after losing two daughters to cystic fibrosis in the 1970s. Mr Kenealy’s wife Valerie said the enduring memory she had of her husband, a retired property manager with Barclays, was of him on his bike.
The pair met cycling in Cheshire and spent years of their married life touring Britain by bike. Speaking to the Daily Post in 2000, she told of her relief at the conviction of Ozkara, who had previously been in court for a string of driving offences, and was thankful that the ordeal had come to an end.
Sadly just weeks later Ozkara had fled. “It is a pity they did not remand him in custody after he was convicted,” Mrs Kenealy said. “He has run away from trouble before so it is not surprising that he has done it this time. But the people who I feel most sorry for are the police because they have been so good, so helpful, so marvellous, and now this has happened.”
Providing a victim impact statement to Ozkara’s sentencing in 2024, Mr Harris’s daughter Andrea said: “Ozkara took from us and was too cowardly to face the consequences. I hope that now we get to face him in court and get justice for my dad and my mum.”
She added: “[Mum] spent many years trying to find Mr Ozkara. When she died I found bundles of letters to MPs trying to find him. Our grief should not have been overshadowed by Mr Ozkara’s actions. He was too cowardly to face the consequences of what he did.”
Detective Chief Inspector Amber Hodson, who led the review which ultimately tracked down Ozkara, said: “[He] was always on our radar, however, with technology rapidly improving the tools of our trade in recent years, our ability to find those who deny victims and their families the justice they deserve quadruples.
“That’s something we’re really proud of and keeps us doggedly on the trail of those who seek to evade justice – no matter how long they have been wanted for and where in the world they are hiding.”
She added: “To see him finally in court to face the judge was a bittersweet moment. This should have happened decades ago, but Ozkara selfishly denied families closure and has wrought long-suffering hurt and distress to the families, but we are so pleased and thankful that we and the family finally got to see him get the justice he deserves.
“The lives of the families of Bryan Kenealy and Roger Harris changed forever when they were taken from them that day – a day that should have been an enjoyable bike ride on an autumnal sunny day. Now, 24 years on, they have finally got the justice Ozkara had denied them.”