A political refugee exacted a terrible revenge on

A political refugee exacted a terrible revenge on the hostel
room-mate who stole his ‘manhood,’ the Old Bailey heard today
(Mon).

Mohamed Omar, 32, armed himself with a club hammer, waited
until the countryman who had homosexually raped him fell asleep,
then smashed in his skull.

Today Omar, a victim of torture in his native Somalia, was
jailed for life after pleading guilty to murdering Bashir Ali
Mohammed.

Prosecutor Mr John Bevan told the court how both killer and
victim, members of separate tribes, had independantly made their
way to Britain.

Both were fleeing persecution in their war torn homeland and

Omar had been the victim of torture.

And at the time of the murder Omar and Mr Mohammed were shar
ing a room at a YMCA hostel in Stockwell Road, Brixton, S London,
refugees seeking political asylum.

Mr Mohammed, 32, had been in England since May.

Omar had

arrived in November 1990, but had only begun living at the hostel
a few days before the murder.

On the morning of August 15 Omar was seen by a porter acting
‘strangely’ in the reception area of the YMCA.

He asked for the police to be called explaining that he had

‘killed somebody.

‘
When he went to investigate the porter discovered the barely

alive Mr Mohammed in his blood soaked bed.

He was rushed to hospital but died soon after from a brain
haemorrhage and fractured skull, said counsel.

Arrested, Omar ‘made a number of unsolicited confessions to
various officers,’ continued Mr Bevan.

‘I kill him good.

I wanted to.

I meant to,’ Omar said.

Adding by way of explanation: ‘He tried to f.

.

.

me.

It was
like someone die.

He make me angry.

I planned to kill him.

I
hit him on head with hammer.

He just was lying there.

‘
Omar later explained through an interpreter in interview that
the night before the murder he had gone to sleep after drinking
heavily and awoken to find Mr Mohammed having sex with him.

‘He felt so humiliated and degraded that he wanted to die,’
said Mr Bevan.

The following day he plotted his revenge and after waiting
until Mr Mohammed had fallen asleep hit him four times with the
hammer.

Omar revealed that he had been tortured in Somalia and wanted
to ‘punish’ Mr Mohammed for violating him.

‘I wanted to punish him but I lost my senses.

I wanted to
torture him to remind him of what he had done to me.

‘I intended to cause him agony or pain.

.

.

.

.

to show him my

manhood.

I wanted to show him that I would not take such a thing o73
and I was not what he mistook me for,’ he told detectives.

Miss Anne Raffferty QC defending told the court that accord
ing to Somalian customs Omar, as a result of the sex attack, has
been left ‘completely disgraced.

‘
‘He felt and remains violated, humiliated and in Somalian
eyes worthless.

For him in his culture he had no future.

‘
After the assault Omar isolated in a foreign country went out
and wandered round.

‘He was distressed, humiliated and confused
and as the day wore on it increased.

‘
Miss Rafferty explained that although Omar had said he in
tended to kill the victim he had in fact only meant to hurt him.

‘To beat and kill in his language are very similar.

He in
tended to punish and demonstrate his manhood.

‘
Imposing the mandatory life sentence the Recorder of London,
Judge Lawrence Verney told Omar: ‘The circumstances which led to
this deed have been explained to the court and will be taken into
consideration when the appropriate minister decides how long you
will have to serve.

‘
Omar is not liable for a deportation order as he is seeking
political asylum.

He was a member of the Issaq tribe and Mr Mohammed of the
Majertee.

There was no suggestion that the attack was prompted
by ‘tribal dislike,’ the court was told.

ENDS