Asylum seeker misses sentencing to eat fish and chips near migrant hotel in Bournemouth

A 24-year-old asylum seeker accused of threatening a man with a snooker cue near a migrant hotel in Bournemouth skipped his sentencing on Thursday to eat fish and chips, court officials said. Shkar Jamal was due to be sentenced at Poole Magistrates' Court for the May 6 incident in Bournemouth, Dorset, but when his case was called at 12:30 p.m., he was not present. The absence prompted a search by his defence solicitor and court staff, who looked for him in the public lobby and elsewhere on site. Fifteen minutes later, Jamal was spotted outside the building on a bench, reportedly eating fish and chips believed to have been bought from Parkway Fish Bar. He was wearing a Nike puffer coat and Nike Air Max trainers that typically retail for hundreds of pounds.

When Jamal re-entered the court, another case had been called, and magistrates broke for lunch. He was allowed to leave on bail, with his fate delayed until the end of October. A backlog of cases from the morning had left the afternoon schedule too full to hear his sentencing then, and the hearing was adjourned at 4:30 p.m. An interpreter proficient in Kurdish Sorani, the language spoken in parts of Iraq and Kurdistan, had been booked for the hearing, underscoring the court’s arrangements for translated proceedings.

At a previous hearing, Jamal admitted threatening Sherwan Abdalrahman with an offensive weapon, namely a snooker cue, in a public place on Old Christchurch Road in Bournemouth. That case was adjourned until October 24. Jamal is living in the Britannia Hotel, which is described as one of three migrant hotels in Bournemouth.

Court officials and local observers noted the ongoing backlog that has affected scheduling in Poole and surrounding areas, with several cases carried over into later dates. The delay in Jamal’s sentencing means his legal status and potential penalties remain unresolved pending later hearings. His supporters have stressed the need for careful consideration of interpreters and language access, which the court had sought to accommodate with Kurdish Sorani translation.

The incident near the migrant hotel adds to a broader conversation about rapid housing for asylum seekers and the strains it places on local resources, including court calendars and law enforcement in coastal towns. Local authorities have reiterated that while housing arrangements are designed to ensure safety and support for residents, they are working within existing legal processes to address offenses and ensure due process.

As Jamal’s case moves toward a date in late October, prosecutors and defense counsel will revisit the specifics of the charge, the evidence from May 6, and any related testimony. The outcome remains subject to the court’s assessment of the threat alleged, the context of the confrontation, and Jamal’s conduct since the incident. For now, the magistrates’ timetable remains the driver of proceedings, with the next scheduled opportunity to sentence Jamal expected at the end of October.