A driver who has been on the run since he was charged with causing his friend’s death in a crash on a rural Yorkshire road is moving between south-east Asian countries using a fake name, a court heard today.

Ewan Aaron Corbett, 25, is due to stand trial at York Crown Court for causing the death by dangerous driving of Shane Finn, 21, who was killed when the Audi A3 both men travelling in was involved in a collision on Knott Road near Rosedale Abbey in the North York Moors National Park in May 2020.

Corbett was also charged with driving without a licence or insurance, but later left the UK and has been a wanted man ever since.

Although North Yorkshire Police and the Crown Prosecution Service have been aware Corbett is overseas for the past year, it was only last month that it was discovered he was in Thailand, from where he has been regularly sharing photos of his activities on Facebook.

North Yorkshire Police have released an image of wanted driver Ewan Corbett, 25

The case was called before York Crown Court again on Monday and Judge Simon Hickey was given an update on Corbett’s fugitive status.

The CPS’s prosecuting barrister said: “He is in Thailand, but has been moving around south-east Asia, using a false name and paying bribes to get into countries. There is an Interpol red notice out on him and an EU arrest warrant.

"However, the CPS are reluctant to commence full extradition proceedings until police can confirm an exact location for him. There is ongoing work, and intelligence officers have been looking at his social media accounts to identify a location.

"The Interpol warning is a step down from a warrant; if he enters any non-EU country regulated by Interpol then they have the option to arrest him, but is is not a requirement.”

Shane Finn was just 21 when he was killed in a crash in the North York Moors National Park nearly four years ago

It was agreed that the trial, set to last three days, would go ahead in September and will be held in Corbett’s absence if necessary. His defence counsel, Victoria Lamballe, indicated that she had received no instructions from him and is likely to withdraw from the case.

Photos posted by Corbett, from Middlesbrough, on his public Facebook account reveal that he has visited Portugal and Switzerland in the past six months. Last October he was in Vietnam.

He also faces a further allegation of dangerous driving in relation to an incident in November 2021, when he was still in the Teesside area, over a year after Mr Finn’s death. The cases will both be tried at York Crown Court.

Monday’s hearing was attended by family members of victim Shane Finn, a father-of-one also from Middlesbrough.

Driver who fled to Asia to escape justice after friend's death in Yorkshire moors crash is 'using fake name and bribing his way into countries'