An asylum seeker who threatened another man with a snooker cue has been spared jail after magistrates praised his “dignity”. Shkar Jamal, 24, brandished the cue as a weapon outside a snooker club in Bournemouth, Dorset, and was “waving” it around at the victim who he claimed had insulted his family.
He was due to be sentenced for carrying an offensive weapon last month. However, he avoided justice after leaving court to eat fish and chips. Jamal was nowhere to be found when his case was called on at Poole Magistrates’ Court on September 18. After returning to the building, magistrates were unable to make room to hear his case, which was adjourned, and he was allowed to leave on bail.
Ashkar Jamal previously avoided being sentenced after leaving court to eat fish and chips (Image: BNPS)
Jamal returned to the same court on Friday and this time received a community order and 100 hours unpaid work.
Magistrates said a custodial sentence was not appropriate as he had made an “error of judgement and had since conducted himself with dignity”.
Poole Magistrates Court heard Jamal got into an altercation with Sherwan Abdalrahman outside Sharkeys Sports Bar on Old Christchurch Road, Bournemouth, on May 6.
The prosecution said Jamal was the “main aggressor” and that he told police he “felt threatened”.
He arrived in the UK from Iraq in 2021 or 2022 and is staying at the Britannia Hotel, which is one of three hotels in Bournemouth converted into migrant accommodation.
The court heard Jamal’s outburst was “out of character” and he now realises it was inappropriate.
Mitigating, Selina Goddard said Jamal “expresses genuine remorse” over the incident, adding: “He says he would relish the opportunity to do unpaid work as it would allow him to give back and make good for his appearance before the court.”
Magistrates handed Jamal a community order with 100 hours of unpaid work and was ordered to pay a surcharge of £114.
Magistrate chair Alan Bennett said the “normal starting point for such an offence is six months in jail”.
He told Jamal: “Any offence of assault when you are armed with any sort of weapon is very serious.
“However, due to a number of circumstances, we don’t believe a custodial sentence is appropriate in this case.
“You are still a relatively young man of previous good character and have had difficult personal circumstances.
“We are not unsympathetic to your position.
“Whilst you made an error of judgement, since then you have conducted yourself with dignity and that helps to rehabilitate yourself in the eyes of the law.
“We wish you good fortune for the future.”
Jamal pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing.
