'Missing' athletics coach Baptiste serving prison sentence in Morocco

'Missing' athletics coach Baptiste serving prison sentence in Morocco An English athletics manager and former gold medallist said by media reports to be missing is serving a custodial sentence in Morocco, BBC Sport can reveal. Leon Baptiste, who was coaching a group of top British track athletes in the run‑up to this summer's Commonwealth Games and European Championships, abruptly went off the grid more than three months ago. Neither UK Athletics, for whom he worked as an advisory sprinting coach, nor the sprinters he coached knew why he was out of contact. In May, Baptiste sent the athletes he coached a brief message saying he would be absent from training "for a while". They have received no further explanation. Over the weekend, he was reported in the media as being "missing" and was said to have disappeared in Morocco. On Tuesday, a short email was sent to the athletes coached by Baptiste - the 200m gold medallist at the 2010 Commonwealth Games - in which he resigned from the position, citing unspecified sick health. A source at the Moroccan Ministry of Justice confirmed to BBC Sport that Baptiste was arrested in Marrakech in May, has since been convicted and is now serving a custodial sentence at Al-Oudaya prison. "In relation to the reports concerning the alleged 'disappearance of Leon Baptiste' - an English athletics manager reportedly missing in Morocco for more than 2 months under questionable circumstances - please note that the accusation published in this respect is inaccurate and does not reflect the facts of the case," said the source. "The overseas national had not lost contact with his surroundings and was not subject to any disappearance or unexplained absence." "He is presently being held at the local prison in Marrakech, where he is serving a custodial sentence following his conviction by the competent judicial authorities in connection with a misdemeanour case." They added Baptiste, 41, was "in good health". No details of what he was convicted of, or the length of his sentence, were provided. The MMJ source said that was not uncommon in the Moroccan judicial system. A spokesperson for the Morocco Public Prosecution Office confirmed: "The British national is presently being held at the local prison in Marrakech, where he is serving a custodial sentence following a court judgement against him in connection with his involvement in a criminal case." Asked directly about Baptiste, a UK Foreign Office spokesperson said: "We are supporting a British national who is detained in Morocco and are in contact with the authorities." Sources told BBC Sport that Baptiste travelled to Marrakech with three other British former athletes, who have each since returned to the UK. BBC Sport has made attempts to contact the athletes but received no reply. Baptiste's family are understood to be aware of his imprisonment.