An asylum seeker who assaulted a female police officer cannot do community service because it would be against health and safety rules, a court heard.
Jordanian national Mustafa Al Mbaidin cannot speak English and would need a full-time translator with him if he were to do a period of unpaid work which would raise ‘issues’ with the health and safety at work laws, his lawyer argued.
Instead the 27-year-old was fined £26 for the offence of assaulting an emergency worker which he will pay at a rate of £2 a month.
Magistrates heard Al Mbaidin drunkenly pestered female joggers running along Bournemouth seafront in Dorset on May 11 this year.
He was observed by a CCTV operator who alerted two nearby police officers.
When one of them, PC Selina Swan, went to arrest him for being drunk and disorderly he shoved her and hit her on the head with his jacket.
He told her ‘f**k you’ before running off.
Al Mbaidin was detained a short while later and was charged with assaulting an emergency worker and being drunk and disorderly.
He pleaded guilty to the charges at Poole Magistrates’ Court yesterday.
The court heard Al Mbaidin is from Jordan but came to Britain via Turkey seeking asylum.
For the past four months he has been staying at the Roundhouse Hotel which has a Home Office contract to house asylum seekers while their applications are processed.
Benjamin Thompson, prosecuting, said: ‘On May 11 at 9am the defendant went to Bournemouth beach.
‘CCTV in the area caught him going up to members of the public and bothering them. These were female joggers who just wanted to get on with their exercise.
‘He was observed for 15 minutes when PC Swan and PC Carmichael were sent to the scene.
‘PC Swan went to arrest him for being drunk and disorderly and as she tried to put him in handcuffs he refused and pulled his arms away and said ‘f..k you.’
‘The defendant pushed PC Swan in the chest and swung his jacket at her which hit her on the head.
‘He pushed her again in the body and ran off.’
In an interview after being arrested Al Mbaidin claimed he did not believe PC Swan was a real police officer because she had acted aggressively towards him.
Mark Hensleigh, defending, said: ‘The situation is that this man does not drink and on the day he did choose to drink. When he was interviewed he said he was 10/10 drunk.
‘His explanation is that when he was arrested he didn’t think it was by a police officer and that is why he struggled.
‘He doesn’t speak English, perhaps that was part of the reason why he acted the way he did when the police officer tried to arrest him.
‘He has lived in Bournemouth for four months, staying at the Roundhouse Hotel. He is Jordanian who came here having left Turkey.’
Al Mbaidin was supported in court by a volunteer from a refugee organisation who he has carried out voluntary work with before.
She told the court that the drunken incident was out of character for him.
Mr Hensleigh said that his client received £9 per week and so fining him was not really an option.
He said: ‘Unpaid work? He would need an interpreter with him at all times and there could be health and safety at work issues. Not really practical at the end of the day.
‘I ask you to deal with him by way of conditional discharge.’
Magistrates handed Al Mbaidin a 12 month conditional discharge and told him that if he gets in trouble again in that time he will be dealt with for this offence and any fresh matter.
They told him to pay a victim surcharge of £26 which is to be paid at a rate of £2 per month.