Police hunting a Tunisian bus driver who killed a passenger when he crashed into a tram believe they may have picked up his trail in France.

Raouf Mraidi was found guilty of killing Andrzej Karcz by dangerous driving at Croydon Crown Court last week, despite failing to turn up for his trial.

The 29-year-old had his French passport taken away from him ahead of the trial, but as an EU national would have been able to travel freely between European countries if he held an identity card.

He had been released on bail by magistrates after being charged in February, with a friend agreeing to act as a £2,000 surety in case Mraidi failed to show up for trial.

But the defendant was last seen by his surety on November 12 - more than a week before he was due to appear at court.

Police raided his home in Rotherhithe New Road after a warrant was issued for his arrest on November 23, but discovered the place abandoned and the cupboards and fridge stripped of food.

Officers believe Mraidi may have escaped to France with his two brothers, who were visiting him from the continent to provide reassurance during his trial when he disappeared.

Mraidi was sentenced in his absence to four years in prison, but trial judge Warwick McKinnon said finding him would be like “searching for a needle in a haystack”.

He said: “Unless by some fluke he’s apprehended he’s not going to be.

“The only way he realistically could be apprehended is if he surrenders himself somewhere, but that’s a highly speculative position.”

Andrzej Karcz, 28, was decapitated after being thrown from the front window of the bus when Mraidi ran a red light and slammed into a tram travelling along George Street in September 2008.

The collision sent the 468 bus careering down George Street, smashing into shop fronts before it finally came to a halt when it crashed into a parked BMW.

The jury at Croydon Crown Court took just 25 minutes to find Mraidi guilty after reviewing the evidence against him.