Asylum seeker denies raping and sexually assaulting woman in London hostel

An asylum seeker has denied raping and sexually assaulting a woman in a London hostel.

Iraqi national Yousif Al-Maliki, 30, of Peckham Lodge Hotel, Peckham, south London, is accused of attacking the woman at the Astor Hostel in South Kensington on August 1.

Prosecutor Jose Olivares-Chandler told Southwark Crown Court on Wednesday that the defendant and complainant had met shortly before the alleged incident took place.

“This allegation arises from a hostel scenario where the defendant was in a dormitory with 12 beds,” the prosecutor said.

“This is a defendant who it is understood arrived [in the UK] on a boat crossing.”

Al-Maliki’s asylum application has been put on hold until the conclusion of the case, the court heard.

Defence barristers said Al-Maliki was a bisexual Iraqi national from Baghdad who was “fleeing torture” in his home country, but the defendant accepted that he had arrived in the UK illegally.

He had been staying in his own designated room at the Peckham Lodge Hotel, accommodation provided by the Home Office.

A bail application was withdrawn after Mr Olivares-Chandler told the court the accommodation was no longer available to the defendant.

Al-Maliki, wearing a white T-shirt and grey tracksuit bottoms, spoke only to confirm his name and enter not guilty pleas to charges of rape, assault by penetration and sexual assault, during a brief plea hearing.

Judge Gregory Perrins set a provisional trial date for March 2 next year.

The judge remanded the defendant in custody to next appear at the same court on January 12.