Dominique Strauss-Kahn was locked behind bars in New York last night, after a judge who heard how he allegedly carried out a brutal sexual attack on a hotel chambermaid denied him $1 million bail.

The IMF chief was remanded in custody as a “flight risk”, after prosecutors warned he would flee to Europe “just like Roman Polanski”, the film director who spent 32 years as a fugitive from the US.

Mr Strauss-Kahn was arrested trying to leave the country on a plane at JFK airport, the judge was told, while evidence suggested he had carried out similar assaults “on at least one other occasion”.

The 62-year-old father of four now faces up to 74 years in prison if convicted of a series of sex crimes against the maid in his $3,000-a-night suite at the Manhattan Sofitel on Saturday afternoon. His lawyers earlier said he would plead not guilty to the charges. . .