Migrant who assaulted four people at asylum hotel ‘wants to return to Syria’

A migrant who travelled to the UK by small boat and admitted assaulting four people at the asylum hotel where he was a resident has expressed a desire to return to Syria, a court has heard.

Mohammed Sharwarq, 32, was a resident at the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, at the time of the offences in July and August of this year.

He had been due to stand trial for sexual assault, after allegedly kissing a man on the back of the neck, but prosecutors discontinued the matter, Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court was told.

He had denied the charge.

Sharwarq had pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to two counts of common assault and four of assault by beating, and he was sentenced for these on Tuesday.

Terence Newman, prosecuting, said: “All of these offences were committed at the Bell Hotel in Epping where the defendant was a resident at the time.”

He said that there were four male victims, with two of them fellow residents of the Bell Hotel and two of them staff.

The prosecutor said that Sharwarq approached another resident of the Bell Hotel in one of the kitchen areas from behind and slapped him to the back, causing no injury.

Describing another occasion, Mr Newman said the defendant “charged” at the same man in a hallway causing him to fear he was about to be assaulted.

“No contact was made – a security guard stepped in,” he said.

The prosecutor said Sharwarq approached the same man in the television room and “slapped him to the back and then proceeded to kick (him) to the back of the neck”.

He said the victim “confirmed no injuries were caused”.

Mr Newman said that on another occasion he punched the man, causing a “small cut to his jawline”.

On August 12, the prosecutor said that Sharwarq “continues to be aggressive, he’s causing issues for several residents and staff members at the hotel”.

He said Sharwarq punched a cleaner at the hotel to the arm, causing no injury, and threw a banana at him hitting him on the back of the head.

The prosecutor said the defendant slapped another hotel resident to the back and then approached a hotel chef, “grabs him and tries to slap him to the face”.

“The defendant then picks up a chair,” Mr Newman said.

“He’s then restrained and police attend.”

Paul Baker, mitigating for Sharwarq, said the defendant was born in Syria and had worked as an engineer specialising in electronics and motor cars.

“In 2011 a war broke out in Syria,” he said.

“There were a lot of deaths and atrocities committed and he and his family made the decision to flee.”

Mr Baker said he travelled first to Turkey, then Germany, then lastly the UK.

He said Sharwarq “came into the UK by boat” and was initially placed in a hotel in Gloucestershire, then placed in the Bell Hotel, where he had been for around a month before the incidents.

Mr Baker said he had spoken to the defendant about the offences.

“I suspect he’s had some kind of breakdown as a result of the stress he’s been under for the last 13 to 14 years and the death of his mother was the final straw,” he said.

Mr Baker said Sharwarq had “indicated a desire to return back to Syria despite the atrocities still going on there”.

“Despite the deaths and people going missing he just wants to return back to Syria,” he said.

“He’s just had enough.”

District Judge Lynette Woodrow is due to pass sentence later on Tuesday.