SCANDAL OF THE RAPIST REFUGEE
A SOMALIAN refugee who carried out a string of sex attacks against women is living freely in Scotland after judges ruled deportation would breach his human rights.
Abdalla Ali Hemed was offered sanctuary in Britain after fleeing his war-torn homeland but was later ordered out of the country after brutally raping two women and assaulting two others.
In a case that has sparked outrage from his victims, Hemed has used human rights laws to block repeated attempts by the authorities to remove him from the country.
Having received almost £70,000 from the Scottish Legal Aid Board. the 52-year-old rapist argued in court that in Somalia he would be at risk of living in a makeshift house that would fall below ‘acceptable standards’.
Last week, judges at the Court of Session agreed and ruled in his favour.
The Scottish Mail on Sunday has learned that Home Office Ministers are ‘disappointed’ at the decision and are considering a fresh attempt to deport him.
Police have warned Hemed’s victims he is now at large.
Last night, his first victim – who he raped when she was only 17 after drugging her – waived her right to anonymity and called for him to be deported immediately.
Angela Coutts, 30, who was forced to have an abortion after Hemed raped her at a party in his flat in Aberdeen in 2004, said: ‘He should be sent back to his own country or locked up here for the rest of his life. The system has let not just me down but let down the other girls he hurt too. It is just wrong.’
Hemed entered the UK from Somalia in February 2002, using a fake passport. He declared himself a member of the minority Bajuni clan and in April 2002 was offered refugee status by the Home Office.
In July 2004, he raped Miss Coutts. In August 2006, he repeatedly raped another young woman at knifepoint after plying her with drink and drugs in his new Aberdeen flat.
In December of that same year, he assaulted a third woman, holding her captive at knifepoint while attempting to rape her. Eight days later, he carried out an almost identical attack on a fourth victim.
After police started an investigation, Hemed was taken to court. In May 2008 he was convicted of two counts of rape and two counts of assault with intent to rape. He was jailed for nine years. The judge described him as ‘a danger to women’ and ordered that he be deported once he served his sentence.
But on his release from prison in September 2013, Hemed began an appeal against his deportation and won on the grounds that he would be in danger if he was returned to Somalia – due to his minority ethnic group status.
The Home Office challenged the ruling, claiming he had carried out a ‘particularly serious crime’ and was ‘a danger to the community’.
But a judge at the Court of Session last week sided with the sex offender.
In a written judgment, Lord Carloway agreed that deportation would create ‘potential for breaches of his human rights’.
He added that if Hemed were sent back to Somalia he would have ‘no access to funds and no clan, family or social support’. For a person from the Banjuni group, ‘there would be a real risk of such a person having to live in makeshift accommodation in conditions falling below acceptable humanitarian standards’.
Last night, the Home Office said it is considering a new bid to deport the rapist.
A spokesman said: ‘We are disappointed with the court’s ruling and are considering whether to appeal further.
‘Any foreign national offender who poses a threat to the UK should be in no doubt of our determination to deport them. We take our duty to protect the public very seriously. Where people have been released into the community, in the vast majority of cases it was ordered by an immigration judge despite our strenuous objections.’
While living in Aberdeen before he was convicted of rape, Hemed fathered a child with a woman he met in the city. Last night, she spoke anonymously to The Scottish Mail on Sunday to reveal her horror that he is still living freely north of the Border.
The 53-year-old said: ‘He’s an absolute monster. He’s an animal who just doesn’t deserve to be in this country. He brutalised other women and brutalised and terrorised me and my daughter. He’s evil and it’s unbelievable they can’t get rid of him. I really hope that now Theresa May’s Prime Minister she can get him out of the country.’
It has been 12 years since she last saw Hemed, but she still lives in constant fear he will track her down.
She said: ‘I keep a rolling pin, a 12in knife and a pepper spray by my front door in case he ever finds us. And I have installed extra strong locks on the windows in case he tries to break in.
‘I live in constant fear of him. It is ridiculous he can stay here because of his human rights.
‘What about my human rights and the other women he terrorised. Where is the justice?’
‘He should be sent back to his own country’ ‘I live in constant fear of him’