An asylum seeker who threatened a man with a snooker cue and skipped court to eat fish and chips has avoided jail.
Shkar Jamal was due to be sentenced at Poole Magistrates’ Court last month after admitting to threatening a victim with an offensive weapon, namely a snooker cue, in a public place on Old Christchurch Road, Bournemouth on 6th May.
His case was however adjourned after he missed the hearing to eat fish and chips, prompting a search party to be launched by court staff.
The 24-year-old was nowhere to be found when the case was called by the court usher, leaving magistrates and legal teams waiting for his appearance.
By the time he had returned to the building, another case had been called on and then the magistrates broke for lunch, disrupting the court schedule.
Court Backlog Prevents Sentencing
Due to a backlog of cases, the afternoon schedule was too full to hear his case and Jamal was allowed to leave the court on bail despite missing his original sentencing slot.
An interpreter who speaks Kurdish Sorani, the language spoken in Iraq and Kurdistan, had been booked for the sentencing hearing at additional expense to the taxpayer.
Jamal was being housed at a hotel that has been converted into migrant accommodation at the time of the hearing, with costs met by the Home Office.
Upon returning to the same court on Friday, 24th October, Jamal received a community order and 100 hours of unpaid work rather than a custodial sentence.
‘Error of Judgement’ With Dignity
Magistrates concluded a custodial sentence was not appropriate, saying he had made an “error of judgement” but had conducted himself “with dignity” since the incident.
Magistrate chair Alan Bennett told Jamal: “You are still a relatively young man of previous good character and have had difficult personal circumstances. We are not unsympathetic to your position. Whilst you made an error of judgement, since then you have conducted yourself with dignity and that helps to rehabilitate yourself in the eyes of the law.”
“We wish you good fortune for the future,” he added, bringing the case to a close without imposing jail time.
The lenient sentence has raised eyebrows given that Jamal threatened someone with a weapon in public and then failed to attend his own sentencing hearing, instead choosing to go for fish and chips.
Record Court Backlogs
The case highlights the mounting pressure on Britain’s court system, with backlogs reaching record levels across England and Wales.
Figures published at the end of last month show the crown court backlog in England and Wales had risen to a record number, placing enormous strain on the justice system.
The data showed the open caseload was 78,329 at the end of June, up two per cent from 76,957 at the end of March, when the backlog passed 75,000 for the first time.
Open caseload refers to the number of outstanding cases waiting to be heard in the court system.
It is also up 10 per cent from 70,893 a year earlier, according to Ministry of Justice figures released in recent weeks.
Some 19,164 cases had been open for at least a year at the end of June, up 17 per cent from 16,378 a year earlier and the highest since current data began being collected.
Weapon Offence on Busy Road
The original offence occurred on Old Christchurch Road in Bournemouth, a busy thoroughfare with shops, restaurants and pedestrian traffic.
Jamal admitted threatening a victim with a snooker cue in this public place on 6th May, an offence that typically carries serious consequences given the potential for harm.
Threatening someone with an offensive weapon in a public place is an imprisonable offence under the Prevention of Crime Act 1953, with magistrates able to impose sentences of up to six months.
The circumstances of the threat and the identity of the victim have not been disclosed in court proceedings.
Migrant Hotel Accommodation
Jamal was residing in hotel accommodation converted for use by asylum seekers at the time of both the offence and the court hearing.
The government has been criticising for housing thousands of asylum seekers in hotels across the country at significant cost to taxpayers, with some facilities costing millions of pounds annually.
Asylum seekers housed in such accommodation receive full board and a weekly allowance whilst their claims are processed, a system that has drawn criticism from those who believe it encourages illegal migration.
The case has sparked debate on social media about whether asylum seekers who commit criminal offences should face deportation rather than being allowed to remain in taxpayer-funded accommodation.
Unpaid Work Sentence
The 100 hours of unpaid work imposed on Jamal will likely involve community service activities supervised by the probation service.
Such work typically includes tasks like removing graffiti, cleaning public spaces, or helping with maintenance projects for local charities.
The community order also means Jamal will be subject to supervision by probation officers who will monitor his behaviour and compliance with the sentence requirements.
Failure to complete the unpaid work or breach the community order could result in him being brought back before magistrates for re-sentencing.
The case will be managed by Dorset Probation Service, which oversees community sentences in the area.
Critics have questioned whether the sentence is sufficient deterrent for threatening someone with a weapon and then showing contempt of court by missing a sentencing hearing.
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Image Credit:
Poole County Court — photo by Bencherlite, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
