Knife attacker was quiet, polite, decent guy, says asylum seeker
● Fellow resident of Park Inn Hotel tells of trauma
The man responsible for a knife attack in a Glasgow hotel has been described as a “quiet and polite and decent guy” by asylum seekers who were residing there.
Badreddin Abadlla Adam, 28, from Sudan, was shot dead by officers after six people, including 42-year-old police constable David Whyte, were injured in the incident on Friday at the Park Inn Hotel on West George Street.
The other five people – aged 17, 18, 20, 38 and 53 – all remain in hospital, with one in a critical condition. Yesterday one of the asylum seekers who was staying at the hotel spoke out about the conditions there and what he had been told of the attacker.
Andrew said: “Recently we were moved from the Park Inn Hotel to the Hallmark Hotel because of the incident that happened on Friday, which has been traumatic for every single asylum seeker.
“One way or the other we have been affected mentally, physically and otherwise.
“I [was not] around when it took place, but I happened to gathersomeinformationfrom my other asylum seekers.
“They described him as a quiet and polite and decent guy. They were surprised that he acted the way he acted.
“There must be something that pushed him to behave in that ugly manner, which honestly I strongly condemned because it is abnormal.”
Mohammad Asif, who also attended yesterday’s press conference organised by Positive Action in Housing (PAIH), said two asylum seekers had been out begging at the end of the street in the time before the incident and were then not allowed to return to their accommodation.
The charity has raised concerns after private housing provider Mears, which is subcontracted by the Home Office, moved refugees from self-contained accommodation to the hotels.
Asylum seeker
PAIH is now calling for an inquiry into the incident and the “accommodation crisis” facing asylum seekers in the city. Charity director Robina Qureshi praised Andrew’s bravery and his work in collecting the names of 60 asylum seekers the charity will give crisis grants to today.
Ms Qureshi earlier said of Friday’s attack: “We’ve got a lot of concerns regarding this – the stabbing that took place on Friday and also the death of a Syrian refugee in a hotel in Glasgow just six weeks ago, all under the watch of Mears.
“It’s the same thing when they took away their £5.39 a day from the asylum seekers. They said we’ve stopped giving them money and that’s so that we can protect asylum seekers from catching the virus from coins.” Glasgow South West MP Chris Stephens said: “An investigation of these and other issues is now needed to restore the trust of politicians, support organisations and asylum seekers.”
“There must be something that pushed him to behave in that ugly manner, which honestly I strongly condemned because it is abnormal”
ANDREW