Three migrants among many staying at a taxpayer-funded hotel in seaside resort Bournemouth have faced sentencing for separate violent crimes over just 10 days.
Halil Dal, a Turkish migrant put up at the South Coast town’s Britannia Hotel, was spared jail after drunkenly stabbing a man with a broken bottle.
Days earlier, Shkar Jamal, who has been living in the same property, missed his own sentencing for threatening a man with a snooker cue – before being discovered tucking into fish and chips nearby instead.
Meanwhile, Kurdish migrant Hana Hassan was one of a 12-strong mob armed with machetes who attacked a shopkeeper in the town following a nightclub dispute.
He has now been jailed for seven years, as local fears mount over what has been dubbed Britain’s most dangerous hotel being used to house asylum seekers.
The 123-room hotel is rated three-star – though TripAdvisor rankings have reviewers putting it 66th among the 67 such venues across Bournemouth on the South Coast.
It has also been the scene of angry protests in the surrounding streets, as locals raise concerns about its use for an estimated 100 asylum seekers – along with two nearby migrant hotels as part of Home Office bookings.
The Britannia Hotel was surrounded this summer by residents gathering outside, brandishing signs with messages such as ‘Illegal criminals out’ and ‘Stop the boats’.
Hana Hassan, pictured, was living in the Britannia Hotel which has been housing migrants at the taxpayer’s expense and the focus of local protests – he has now been jailed for seven years
Another Britannia resident Halil Dal, 30, was caught on CCTV smashing a bottle against a wall outside the Camel nightclub in Bournemouth last December before attacking a man
Another case saw Britannia resident and migrant Shkar Jamal, 24, miss a sentencing hearing for threatening a man with a snooker cue – before being seen eating fish and chips nearby
The nearby 79-room Chine Hotel was also targeted in July.
And figures in August revealed dozens of criminal charges have been brought against residents at the town’s three migrant hotels, it emerged in August.
A total of 91 charges were brought against people staying at the Britannia and Roundhouse – just 180 yards from each other – and another 25 against those at the Chine Hotel, amounting to 116 counts against 51 different asylum seekers.
One local who lives just along from the Britannia has told the Mail: ‘I’ve lived here since 2008 and I can say that Bournemouth has changed.’
Another said: ‘I used to walk comfortably in the evening, but I don’t go out now.’
Security guards and police now patrol the tree-lined Meyrick Road – home to both the Britannia and the Roundhouse owned by the same Britannia Hotels group that also operates three more in the town including Bournemouth’s oldest, the Royal Bath.
Now a renewed spotlight has been put upon asylum seekers who have recently found themselves before court for sentencing over violent crimes committed while staying at the Britannia.
The latest included Hana Hassan, 22, after being part of a machete-brandishing gang of illegal immigrants storming a nearby high street on January 29 2024.
Halil Dal’s victim Kashif Chugtai suffered cuts to his back and was lucky his injuries were not ‘catastrophic, a court has been told as Dal was sentenced last month
Hassan and co-defendants Yosef Shaban, 24, 21-year-old Osama Qadir and Dawan Mantik, 28 were all Kurds from Iran and Iraq who arrived in Britain on small boats.
They were among a larger mob of 12 who were said to have ‘rallied the troops’ after a dispute in a Bournemouth nightclub days earlier.
They targeted fellow Kurd Kurwan Ali and his friends at his shop in Bournemouth’s Boscombe district, in what Winchester Crown Court heard was a ‘ferocious and frighteningly violent attack’, leaving one victim with life-threatening lung injuries.
As he jailed Hassan, Shaban, Qadir and Mantik for a combined 22 years, Judge Paul Dugdale said their behaviour was, ‘not what we are about in this country’.
Two other men involved in the mob attack – named as Ahmed Omar and Rahel Omer – have since fled the country.
Mr Dugdale told the court: ‘The people of Boscombe just want to live their lives peacefully and do not want this sort of behaviour to take place.
‘People want to walk down the road without being scared.
‘It causes fear in the community and makes people scared to go out.
Residents gathered outside the Britannia Hotel in Bournemouth in August this year with signs reading ‘Illegal criminals out’ and ‘Stop the boats’
‘This is not a violent country. It is a country where people can walk freely in the street and we want to keep it that way.’
The judge said their future ‘in all likelihood lies within the Home Office’.
Winchester Crown Court heard the attack followed a row on January 27 2024, at Bar So in the seaside town, just 200m from Bournemouth Pier.
The pair ‘rallied the troops’ after the dispute and two days later arrived with ten others, including the four defendants, at victim Kurwan Ali’s shop. Mr Ali had three friends with him in the shop.
There was then a ‘ferocious and frighteningly violent attack’. One of the victims, Sepan Qasim was stabbed twice, suffering a collapsed lung, whilst others suffered bruising and cuts after being kicked during the attack.
Local business owners Omar and Omer have not been seen since the incident and are believed to have fled the country to Kurdistan to escape the justice system. They had provided accommodation and work for the defendants.
It was confirmed that all four are illegal immigrants from Kurdistan and arrived in the UK on inflatable boats.
The four appeared at Winchester Crown Court charged with various offences, including grievous bodily harm, violent disorder and possessing violent weapons. Six other defendants had previously been acquitted.
Hassan was sentenced last Friday to seven years behind bars, Shaban to four years, Qadir to six years and Mantik to five years.
All four wore suits in the dock and showed little emotion during the sentencing, which followed a nine-week trial and will serve two-thirds of their sentence in custody.
Those punishments were handed down just days after two separate sentencing hearings were scheduled for other Britannia Hotel migrant residents.
Shkar Jamal, 24, threatened a man with a snooker cue outside the troubled hotel in May this year – before then skipping his sentencing hearing on September 24 this year to eat fish and chips.
He was due to be sentenced at Poole Magistrates’ Court for the incident which happened in Bournemouth on May 6 – but when his case was called on at 12.30pm, Jamal was nowhere to be found.
A search party, including his defence solicitor, went looking for him but there was no sign of him in the public lobby or elsewhere on site.
Fifteen minutes later, Jamal was spotted outside sitting on a bench and eating fish and chips thought to have been purchased from the nearby Parkway Fish Bar.
By the time Jamal – wearing a Nike puffer coat and Nike Air Max trainers that usually retail for £140 and £165 – re-entered the building, another case had been called on and then the magistrates broke for lunch.
Shkar Jamal was allowed to leave court on bail with his fate delayed until the end of October
A backlog of cases from the morning meant the afternoon schedule was too full to hear his case, which was adjourned at 4.30pm.
Jamal was allowed to leave court on bail with his fate delayed until later, with sentencing adjourned for a new date of October 24.
An interpreter who speaks Kurdish Sorani, the language spoken in Iraq or Kurdistan, had been booked for the hearing.
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, Bournemouth.
In another incident, drunken Turkish migrant Halil Dal, 30, who was also staying at the Britannia, stabbed a man with a broken bottle.
Despite the attack – and accusations he was in a terrorist group in his home country – Halil Dal, 30, will not be deported from the UK, a court heard on September 30.
Dal was caught on CCTV smashing a glass bottle against the wall outside the Camel nightclub in Bournemouth last December before attacking Kashif Chugtai – who suffered cuts to his back and was lucky his injuries were not ‘catastrophic’.
Dal has been staying at the Britannia since fleeing Turkey, where his lawyer said he faced persecution for his political views and police had accused him of being a member of a terrorist group, tortured him and forced him to become an informant.
Mail on Sunday investigations revealed that 46 criminal charges had been brought against migrants at the Roundhouse Hotel (above) – within 180 yards of the Britannia Hotel
Video footage of the attack shows Dal removing a bottle from his pocket, smashing it against the wall and then making a ‘stabbing motion’ with it several times.
Security staff then stepped in and restrained him on the floor until the police arrived.
He admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm and was handed a 24-week prison sentence suspended for 18 months, meaning he is not eligible for automatic deportation under Government legislation.
David Finney, prosecuting, told the court the assault happened outside the Camel bar at about 5.30am on December 14 last year – and that no explanation was given for the ‘shocking’ attack other than that Dal was ‘in drink’ at the time.
Describing the footage, Mr Finney said: ‘He walks past the victim then turns around and walks back.
‘He pulls a bottle from his pocket, smashes the bottle and makes a stabbing motion towards the victim.
‘He smashes it again and makes a stabbing motion two more times. Door staff then become involved.’
Mr Finney said the victim told police he had been attacked but refused to provide an official statement, adding: He suffered minor lacerations to the back.
Halil Dal’s lawyer said at his sentencing hearing for the glass bottle attack that he had been beaten and tortured by police in Turkey and accused of being in a terror group
‘Had we been provided with a statement from the victim, it’s highly likely the charges would have been more serious, but it was felt this was the only charge we could prove.
‘It is use of a highly dangerous weapon – a broken bottle is the equivalent of a knife.’
The prosecutor described the assault’s potential harm as ‘catastrophic’.
Juliet Osborne, defending, said her client had suffered trauma in Turkey due to his politics.
She said: ‘Mr Dal is in the UK seeking asylum. He tells me he was involved in politics in Turkey.
‘He was forced by police to become an informant, the police beat and tortured him in order to force him to do that.
‘They raided his home and accused him of being a member of a terrorist group. His family helped him flee to the UK.
‘Upon coming to the UK he has felt hopeless and suffered immeasurably with his mental health.
Three migrants staying at the Britannia Hotel (pictured) in the previously quaint seaside resort of Bournemouth have been hauled to court for separate crimes over just 10 days
‘This is due to the trauma he suffered in Turkey, uncertainty about his asylum position here in the UK and fear of what will happen to him should asylum be refused and he is returned to Turkey.’
She also said he has been suffering badly with his mental health since arriving in the UK.
‘He has sadly, since coming to the UK, made several attempts on his own life. This includes jumping from the fourth floor of his asylum accommodation.
‘This resulted in a fractured scapula (shoulder blade) on both his arms and a ruptured lung. He is now medicated for anxiety and depression.
‘Since this incident he has stopped drinking entirely and there have been no incidents since.’
She added that Dal was ‘extremely remorseful’ for his actions, adding: ‘He has told me he will never do anything like this again, he has never harmed anyone before.
‘He is shocked and ashamed at his actions. This was a one off incident. It is undoubtedly shocking and Mr Dal is lucky the victim was not more seriously harmed.’
Nicola Phillips, chair of the bench said: ‘This was a serious incident which could have ended up in tragedy. However, we only have evidence of minor harm physically to the victim.’
Protests in Bournemouth have taken place recently, including at The Chine Hotel (as seen above), where the Mail on Sunday found 25 charges had been brought against migrants
They said although it crossed the custody threshold, with Dal’s mitigation they were prepared to suspend the jail term.
Dal was given a 24-week prison sentence, suspended for 18 months and a 24-week tagged curfew between 7pm and 7am.
Dal, speaking through a Turkish interpreter, said: ‘Thank you, I will follow the rules and obey the conditions.’
The sentence means Dal does not meet the threshold for automatic deportation by the Government.
Under current law, foreign offenders who receive a prison sentence of 12 months or more can be deported automatically.
Deportations only occur for sentences under a year in certain cases, for example if it involves a persistent offender or they have caused serious harm.
The Government has announced plans to immediately kick out rapists, drug dealers and burglars who receive custodial sentences, with a lifelong ban on returning.
A Mail On Sunday investigation revealed in July that at least 312 asylum seekers have been charged with 708 alleged criminal offences in just three years – including rape, sexual assault, attacking emergency workers and theft.
The probe scoured thousands of magistrate courts records and cross-referenced defendants’ addresses with those of 70 taxpayer-funded hotels housing asylum seekers to compile a dossier of the 708 criminal charges.
The Home Office said in response: ‘Removal of foreign national offenders is up by 14 per cent since the last election, and we are also taking action through our Border Security Bill to cancel the asylum claims of anyone convicted of a sex offence.’
A Government spokesman has also previously told the Mail: ‘From over 400 asylum hotels open under the previous government in summer 2023, costing almost £9million a day, there are now fewer than 210, and we want them all closed by the end of this Parliament.
‘We will continue to work closely with community partners across the country, and discuss any concerns they have, as we look to fix this broken system together.’
A Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council spokesman added: ‘The Home Office are responsible for procuring and managing asylum accommodation.
‘The council carefully monitors the use of asylum hotels in Bournemouth and the impact of this on our statutory services, community safety and the local economy.’
The Daily Mail has contacted the Britannia Hotel for comment following the latest cases but staff there directed any enquiries to the hotel group’s head office, which has also been contacted.