An asylum seeker who went “on a rampage” while drunk at his temporary Carlisle hotel home has been given an immediate 12-month prison sentence.
Mortahda El Saedi, 25, was the subject of an initial call to police on September 14 after slamming doors and breaking items at his London Road base. Saedi calmed down and police left. But they were back around half an hour later, Carlisle Crown Court was told today.
“The report was that Mr Saedi had gone on a rampage, setting off fire extinguishers and behaving violently,” said prosecutor Gerard Rogerson.
His bizarre conduct was captured on CCTV footage. Saedi came out of his room, removed his shirt, slammed doors and banged on walls. He then picked up a fire extinguisher, chased a staff member and set it off.
“He went to the reception area where he threw the empty extinguisher with some force behind the reception desk,” said Mr Rogerson. “There was a female staffing the desk at that time and she had to move out of the way.”
Saedi picked up a second device which he sprayed at another resident. He flung his body around while others battled to restrain him.
He made an bid to try and headbutt a member of staff, kicked out towards a police officer and spat towards the PC, who described the conduct as disgusting and humiliating. He was caused further anxiety not knowing if there was a risk of contagious diseases being spread.
When interviewed. Saedi described himself as “10” on a one to 10 drunk scale. At that time, he was also on bail following an incident two-and-a-half weeks earlier in which he was caught in possession of a small kitchen knife by police called to the same hotel. He claimed he found the blade and intended to use it for cutting fruit and vegetables.
When brought before a magistrates’ court, Saedi — currently of no fixed address — admitted two common assaults, a public order charge, criminal damage, and illegal public knife possession.
Saedi was jailed by a judge today who heard he felt vulnerable at the hotel at the time, and claimed he had been threatened and challenged to fight. Security staff, he said, did nothing to protect him.
Recorder Paul Hodgkinson noted Saedi had been afforded accommodation in Carlisle after travelling from Iraq through Turkey and German, arriving in the UK last August. His response recently, said the judge, had been to commit a series of disgraceful incidents.
