A violent and controlling husband has been jailed for four and a half years after deliberately stranding his wife abroad without a passport.

Mohamed Ahmed Omer, 52, is the first person in Victoria to be convicted of “exit trafficking”, following the incident ten years ago.

Exit trafficking is defined as a person coercing, forcing or threatening another person to leave Australia against their will.

Omer, who is an Australian citizen, secretly withdrew his support for his then-wife’s visa in June 2014 and made false claims to authorities that she had abused and “abandoned” their two young children.

In September 2014, Omer booked a holiday from Melbourne to Sudan with the wife and children.

He abandoned her in Sudan after discreetly changing the date of the return flight, taking her passport and identity documents and flying to Australia with the children.

The County Court heard it took more than a year for the woman to reinstate her visa and return to Australia. She has since been reunited with the children.

“Your deception was intentional and resulted in (the woman) leaving Australia,” Judge Frank Gucciardo said on Tuesday.

“You always reassured her that she could return to Australia.”

Omer was convicted of exit trafficking in April by a jury, following a month-long trial.

Omer described as ‘humanitarian’ by former friends despite crime

The court heard that Omer was an expert in food and agricultural safety and held several academic degrees, including a doctorate in applied chemistry.

The judge said “impressive” character references had been provided on his behalf by former friends and colleagues who described him as a humanitarian committed to helping people in his native Sudan.

This compassion was at odds with the crime he had committed, Judge Gucciardo noted, which deprived his children of their mother’s care.

The woman first arrived in Australia in April 2012, two years after their arranged marriage in Sudan.

Judge Gucciardo said he accepted the evidence that Omer had behaved aggressively and threatened the woman during the marriage.

Omer was also accused of controlling the woman’s phone usage and bank accounts, the court heard.

Nurses who visited the woman during the period of abuse described her as a “gentle, caring and responsive mother” who was depressed by Omer’s treatment.

Jury rejects defense arguments

Prosecutors said the family’s trip to Sudan in 2014 was presented by Omer as a month-long vacation.

Omer told police in 2016 that he feared for the health and safety of his children while in Sudan – the judge said the jury had to overturn his decision in finding him guilty.

Judge Gucciardo said the offense “had a lasting and traumatic impact” on the woman.

Omer, who has already spent six months in detention, could be released conditionally after serving three years and three months of his sentence.