He was told his offending “could potentially attract a custodial sentence”
Matt Lee Senior Multimedia Journalist
08:06, 17 Feb 2026
The Wethersfield base in Essex now used as an asylum centre(Image: Carl Court/Getty Images)
A sex offender asylum seeker who is “confused about the [court] process” has had his sentencing date delayed. Muqbil Al Dhaheri was due to be sentenced at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court on Monday (February 16) having entered guilty pleas last month to sexual assault and an act of outraging public decency.
Al Dhaheri, 36, was warned by Magistrates on Monday (February 16) that “this is the final attempt” for him as they allowed a third attempt to produce a pre-sentence report. The court heard he previously had two appointments arranged to meet with the Probation Service so that a pre-sentence report could be produced.
Pre-sentence reports are a formal document produced by a Probation Officer, who interview the defendant, to assist a court in deciding what sentence to impose. The final decision on the sentence remains with the presiding Judge.
Mr Ian Clift, representing the asylum seeker, said Al Dhaheri “was not aware” that there was an appointment with the Probation Service scheduled for January 28. He was aware of an earlier appointment on January 10, however.
Al Dhaheri, who is a resident at the Wethersfield Asylum Centre near Braintree and remains on bail, will now be sentenced at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court at a later date in April. Magistrates were told that Al Dhaheri has an ongoing application for asylum.
Mr Clift said Al Dhaheri entered guilty pleas at the first opportunity on January 8. He also said the defendant was “confused about the process” and does not speak English.
The official court record states Al Dhaheri had been charged with “sexual assault on a female” on January 5. The second charge, outraging public decency, was committed on the same date and relates to Al Dhaheri “behaving in an indecent manner, namely urinating and exposing his penis whilst he did so”.
Mr Clift said: “This is one of the cases where the court would be assisted by a pre-sentence report. The court would be assisted in my submission because he has no previous convictions. We have an offence that would ordinarily require some form of risk assessment.”
“There’s added consideration about his immigration status as it currently stands,” Mr Clift added. “All these factors would suggest that the court would be greatly assisted by a pre-sentence report.”
The Magistrates retired for around eight minutes before returning to tell the court that Al Dhaheri would be given a final chance, and told that he must attend court on the next occasion otherwise he would be committing a further offence. The court heard the offences for which he entered guilty pleas “could potentially attract a custodial sentence”.
The Magistrates said: “We will generally do our best to have a pre-sentence report prepared and we feel it’s particularly important in your case because essentially the court is undertaking a risk assessment about your general level of threat to the public. It’s been a very finely balanced decision for us.”
They added: “I want to make it absolutely clear that this is the final attempt. You will be given a date on which you must return to court. The court on that date will proceed to sentence you whether or not it has received a pre-sentence report.”