Former Commonwealth Games 200m champion Leon Baptiste has been sentenced to 10 months in prison in Morocco following his conviction in a case involving the sexual assault of a minor.
The 41-year-old British sprinter had been reported missing after travelling to Morocco, where he worked as a consultant sprint coach for UK Athletics.
According to the BBC, a Moroccan Ministry of Justice source said Baptiste was arrested in Marrakech in May and is serving his sentence at Al-Oudaya prison.
The source dismissed reports that he had disappeared, saying, “The foreign national concerned had not lost contact with his surroundings and was not subject to any disappearance or unexplained absence.”
The source added that Baptiste was “in good health.”
Morocco’s Public Prosecution Office also confirmed his detention and imprisonment.
“The British national is currently being held at the local prison in Marrakech, where he is serving a custodial sentence following a court judgment against him in connection with his involvement in a criminal case,” the office said.
Baptiste had stopped communicating with the athletes he coached more than three months ago, prompting concerns over his whereabouts.
He reportedly sent the sprinters a brief message in May saying he would be away from training “for a while.”
The athletes continued preparing for major championships without him during a crucial stage of the season.
Baptiste was also named England Athletics Coach of the Year at the 2023 Sporting Equals Awards.
Recent reports had described him as missing, but it has emerged that he travelled to Marrakech with three former British athletes, who have since returned to the UK.
