Pauline McNeil #2144

A Palestinian asylum seeker who arrived in Britain illegally by small boat has been jailed for six years after breaking into a family home and masturbating in front of terrified young girls. The judge concluded that he intended to rape at least one of them. Mohammed Abbas, 29, who claims to be Palestinian, arrived from France in March. By July, he had already been convicted of assaulting a police officer, whom he spat at, and battery. Rather than being deported, he was given a taxpayer-funded, £250,000 two-bedroom house in Cardiff, where he lived alone. Just two days after moving in, Abbas broke into a nearby family home at 2am, entering a bedroom shared by three sisters, including two children under 16. He exposed himself, repeatedly demanded sex and masturbated as the girls screamed in terror. He even attempted to climb towards one of them on a bunk bed. She desperately fought him off with a pillow. Their screams eventually alerted their family, and Abbas fled. Police subsequently discovered stolen belongings at his accommodation and DNA evidence linking him to the bedroom. The court heard that Abbas received £30 weekly from the Home Office, which he spent on food, alcohol, tobacco and cannabis. His asylum application remained undecided. Judge Lucy Crowther described the danger he posed to women and girls as “real and imminent”. He received six years’ imprisonment and three years’ extended licence. Meanwhile, the British Government has reopened its refugee resettlement scheme, with approximately a quarter of referrals earmarked collectively for Palestinians and Afghan women and girls. Ministers expect initially hundreds of arrivals across the new resettlement routes, potentially rising into the low thousands. Abbas cannot be considered for deportation until he has served his custodial sentence.