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Mohammed Sharwarq, who fled civil war in 2011, is jailed for 16 weeks
A Syrian who assaulted four people at an asylum hotel where he was a resident has signed paperwork to return to his home country after being jailed for 16 weeks.
Mohammed Sharwarq travelled to the UK by small boat and was at the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, at the time of the offences this summer.
A sentencing hearing at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court heard that the 32-year-old had been due to stand trial for sexual assault after being accused of kissing a man on the back of the neck.
However, prosecutors discontinued the matter.
Sharwarq had denied the charge. He pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to two counts of common assault and four of assault by beating.
Mohammed Sharwarq, centre, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to two counts of common assault and four of assault by beating (PA)
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 on the back, causing no injury.
Describing another occasion, Mr Newman said that 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”.
Sharwarq was a resident of the Bell Hotel in Epping (PA)
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 12 August, 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 on 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 on the back and then approached a hotel chef and tried to slap him in the face.
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, and 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.
“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,” 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, who sentenced Sharwarq to 16 weeks in prison, said the offences were committed while Sharwarq was on police bail for an alleged affray at another asylum hotel.
She she had been told Sharwarq had “signed documentation to facilitate your voluntary resettlement to Syria”.
She also ordered that he pay £300 compensation to the man he assaulted on multiple occasions, £200 each to the two staff, with no compensation for the fourth victim. She ordered that he pay £85 prosecution costs and a £154 victim surcharge.
