A migrant caught with vile child abuse videos on his phone gave a thumbs up outside court after being spared jail and deportation.
Osamah Al-Haddad was caught with three ‘grotesque’ videos when he arrived at Heathrow Airport from Cairo, Egypt, in January 2024.
Immigration officers uncovered the material, including ‘depraved’ footage of a man having sex with a goat, when they searched his mobile during asylum screening.
The Yemen native, 26, originally came to the UK on a student visa, then claimed asylum after insisting the Houthis were seeking out his father.
He was also under pressure by the Houthis to join their army and claimed he is not able to return to Yemen because ‘of his fear of repercussions refusing to fight,’ a court heard.
Al-Haddad, of no fixed address, admitted three counts of making indecent photos of children, and one count of making a pseudo-photograph of a child.
He claimed to have no sexual interest in children and that the images were sent to him by a friend on WhatsApp.
Al-Haddad was sentenced to 30 weeks, suspended for a year, and also be made subject to a sexual harm prevention order for ten years, and 150 hours of unpaid work.
Last April, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper had set out plans to ban foreign sex offenders from gaining asylum in the UK, but any offender would have to be sentenced to more than a year in prison.
Isleworth Crown Court heard how Al-Haddad’s asylum application was pending, but he is allowed to live and work in Plymouth, Devon.
‘Although the defendant entered the country as an asylum seeker, he is now working in a restaurant,’ said defence barrister John Hunter.
‘He receives a monthly income of around £781 a month. He gives most to his wife and child back in Yemen, and he hopes to bring them to this country to live with him.’
Al-Haddad was assisted by an Arabic interpreter as Judge Fiona Barrie told him: ‘You are 26 years of age, and you pleaded guilty to all offences.
‘The category A video involves an act of bestiality which is grotesque and is depraved.
‘You should do well to remember that this is a real child who has experienced this abuse, and those are significant aggravating factors.
‘You claim you have no sexual interest in children and received the images from a WhatsApp group.
‘But I share the concerns of the pre-sentence report which state that you are not entirely honest about that.
‘You have had those videos saved since August 2021, in your possession to view and certainly not deleted by you.’
In footage filmed by a passerby after sentencing, Al-Haddad can be seen denying any knowledge of the images’ source as he tries to rush away following the verdict.
He can be heard saying: ‘I don’t know. I explained them (the court) everything (sic)’ before giving the filmer a thumbs up as he walks away.