A hotel migrant who viciously attacked a Subway worker was caught when he returned to the sandwich shop only hours later as a Just Eat driver. Abdoela Berhan, an Eritrean asylum seeker, turned violent when staff member Sahjan Chowdhury tried to make him leave for being aggressive and a nuisance to other customers.
Attack and Identification
The 35-year-old spat at and kicked Mr Chowdhury, then fled the shop before police could arrive. However, staff identified Berhan later that day when he returned to pick up food orders for his delivery job. Berhan has been found guilty of assault in his absence after he failed to show up to Poole Magistrates' Court last Thursday, and a warrant has been issued for his arrest. He remains at large.
Following the incident, police had previously been able to trace him to a nearby taxpayer-funded hotel in Bournemouth. He tried to claim he was the one who was assaulted and accused the staff of being racist. When shown CCTV of the incident, he said he had acted in self-defence.
Details of the Incident
The incident happened close to the Britannia Hotel, one of three migrant hotels in the town, on November 30, 2024, at about 4.50 am. It has been dubbed Britain's 'most dangerous asylum hotel' after a string of migrants who have stayed there have been convicted for violent crime in recent months.
Mr Chowdhury told Poole Magistrates' Court that Berhan seemed drunk and was waving £20 notes in people's faces, but refused to join the queue. Laura Lohk, prosecuting, said: 'It was very early in the morning, but there were other members of the public in the shop. The defendant came in and appeared to be drunk. He became aggressive and caused a nuisance to members of staff and also members of the public. He spat towards the staff and it hit the glass which covers the food. Staff came out from behind the counter and asked the defendant to leave the shop.'
Mr Chowdhury added: 'All of a sudden he spitted, he tried to spit on us but there's glass on the place where we put our food. But that's a food safety concern so I couldn't take it easy, I went to him and asked him to leave. He tried to start a fight with me.' Another member of staff described Berhan as 'aggressive and bullying' and said he would not listen when people tried to reason with him. He said Berhan was shouting, sometimes in English, sometimes in his own language, and they could not understand him.
Court Proceedings and Aftermath
Ms Lohk said: 'The defendant visited the Subway shop a little later on when he was a Just Eat driver and the staff recognised and identified him in that way. Police made some enquiries and arrested the defendant. In interview he admitted he was there. He initially denied spitting and kicking. He stated he was the one who was assaulted. He went into Subway as a customer, gave one of the staff a £5 note and they said they wanted to check if it was real. This annoyed him and there was a verbal altercation, calling the staff racist. But he denied spitting, it was just verbal. He said the victim is the person who assaulted him, he came out from behind the counter, approached him and punched him. [Berhan] felt fear for his safety and his life, as the victim was in the kitchen before and there's knives in there, implying he had a knife. After seeing the CCTV he said he was acting in self-defence.'
The magistrates said they found the case proved on the 'very clear evidence' and found Berhan guilty of assault. Berhan's case was previously in the media after it was revealed the judge had used Google Translate to speak to the defendant after the court failed to find an interpreter who spoke Eritrean. At an earlier hearing in March, District Judge Orla Austin said she would be unable to take his pleas or outline the circumstances of the case if he could not understand what was being said to him. The case was adjourned, with the judge informing Berhan of his bail conditions and need to return to court at a later date using the translation tool.
In 2023, the Ministry of Justice spent £59.2 million on interpreters over three years, with most of the money being spent on interpreters for foreign defendants. The Britannia Hotel, where Berhan was staying, is a 123-room, three-star rated accommodation that TripAdvisor reviewers have ranked 68th of 69 such venues across Bournemouth. In recent months, it has been the scene of angry protests, as concerned locals take to the streets about its continuing use by the Home Office for an estimated 100 asylum seekers, alongside two other nearby migrant hotels. Last summer, the Britannia Hotel was surrounded by residents brandishing signs stating 'Illegal criminals out' and 'Stop the boats'. The nearby 79-room Chine Hotel and 127-room Roundhouse have come under similar protest, after it was revealed dozens of criminal charges have been brought against residents between the three migrant hotels. Figures released last August showed a total of 91 charges were brought against people staying at the Britannia and Roundhouse, and another 25 against those at the Chine Hotel, amounting to 116 counts against 51 different asylum seekers.
