Man jailed for assaulting four people at asylum hotel where he was a resident

A man who assaulted four people at the asylum hotel where he was a resident has been jailed for 16 weeks.

Mohammed Sharwarq, who has signed paperwork to return to Syria, was staying at the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, at the time of the offences between 25 July and 12 August. The 32-year-old 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 heard 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 there were four male victims, with two of them fellow residents of the Bell Hotel and two of them staff.

The prosecutor said Sharwarq attacked another resident of the Bell Hotel on several occasions, culminating in a punch that caused a "small cut to his jawline". He said that on that day 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 in 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 in 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." Sharwarq's solicitor, Paul Baker, said the defendant was born in Syria and had worked as an engineer specialising in electronics and 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." He said Sharwarq had been at the hotel 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". District judge Lynette Woodrow sentenced Sharwarq to 16 weeks in prison, ordered that he pay £300 compensation to the man he assaulted on multiple occasions and £200 each to the two staff.

Sharwarq bowed his head to the judge then sought to clarify, with the help of an interpreter, how long he would spend in prison before he was led to the cells. A series of protests have been held outside The Bell Hotel after asylum seeker Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu sexually assaulted a woman and 14-year-old girl in the town..