Thirty-year-old Karam Abdulkarim-Mohamed was sentenced at Poole Magistrates’ Court this week after admitting to multiple assaults, carrying a knife, and possessing cocaine. The court heard that he attacked two station guards earlier this year, spitting on one and telling them he would “teach them a lesson.”
Abdulkarim-Mohamed first came to the UK in 2021 after spending time in France and Germany. He told the court he left Sudan because of “very big problems.” He now lives at the Roundhouse Hotel in Bournemouth, a Home Office-run property used to house asylum seekers and a regular target of local protests.
The court was told that the defendant tried to jump the ticket barriers at Reading station on January 29 at about 9:30 pm When guards stopped him, he left only to return 30 minutes later and force his way through. Prosecutor Charles Nightingale said Abdulkarim-Mohamed “barged through the barrier,” shouted “you can’t stop me, you motherf*cker,” and then punched one security worker twice in the face while spitting on another.
Roughly six months later, he was involved in a confrontation in Bournemouth town center after hugging the girlfriend of a teenager he knew. When the group of teens reacted, he drew a small knife and waved it around. Witnesses said he then struck a woman on the arm as bystanders tried to intervene. Police arrested him for assault, possessing a knife, and drug offenses.
The defendant appeared in court wearing Nike Air Jordan 4 sneakers, which retail for about £300, though his lawyer said he has no income and receives no government support. James Moore, his defense attorney, told the court that Abdulkarim-Mohamed was remorseful and had never been in trouble before. He said the knife was a small blade “used to cut nails.”
A probation officer told magistrates that sending him to prison could worsen his mental health. The court heard he may have been concussed during the second incident when he lashed out at members of the public.
He was sentenced to 16 weeks in prison, suspended for 12 months, and ordered to pay £120 in compensation to his victims, Daily Mail reports.
Records presented in court showed that Abdulkarim-Mohamed’s case is not isolated. According to local figures, 116 charges—mostly for assault—have been brought against 51 migrants living in Bournemouth’s three hotels housing asylum seekers. That includes 46 charges linked to residents at the Roundhouse, 45 at the nearby Britannia Hotel, and 25 at the Chine Hotel in Boscombe Spa Road.
