GAZING out over the tranquil waters of the Indian Ocean from his hotel terrace, Yaqub Ahmed must have felt like a competition winner.
The Peace Hotel, in Somalia’s capital of Mogadishu, is described on its website as an “oasis of tranquility” boasting stylish architecture, international restaurants, a fitness suite and even an outdoor running track.
Six successive Home Secretaries tried to remove the rapist from the UK as he exploited human rights and slavery laws
Moments before take-off a mutiny by virtue-signalling fellow passengers saw him escorted off the jetsolosyndication
Personal security is offered to those who want to venture into the city and it is the hotel most favoured by business travellers and diplomats. In a sense, Somalian Ahmed — who was convicted along with three other men of the gang rape of a 16-year-old girl in a London flat in 2007 — did “win” his luxury stay after a strategic, five-year game of cat and mouse with the Home Office.
Of course, Britain should have been shot of Ahmed in 2018, when he was given a one-way ticket to his home country on a Turkish Airlines flight after being stripped of his refugee status.
But moments before take-off a bizarre mutiny by virtue-signalling fellow passengers, unaware of his appalling crimes, meant he was escorted off the jet — and applauded when he was.
After this unexpected stroke of luck for Ahmed, this unpleasant chancer embarked on a relentless merry-go-round of tribunals and appeals, dragging his fight before no fewer than 24 court hearings and 20 judges.
Six successive Home Secretaries tried to remove the rapist from the UK as he smirkingly exploited human rights and modern slavery laws to argue against deportation.
Officials finally broke the cycle in August this year by secretly striking the luxury deportation deal, which would finally remove Ahmed, who first arrived in Britain as a 14-year-old refugee in 2003.
In a bid to persuade the court’s deportation didn’t breach his human rights, the Home Office agreed to support Ahmed for three and half months as he resettled in Mogadishu.
Yet unbelievably, the all-expenses-paid hotel stay isn’t the most galling part of this farcical story.
What really sticks in the craw is the personally tailored “therapy package” laid on for the rapist by the Home Office to help him cope with the “ordeal” of his deportation.
This included prolonged access to treatment at a clinic in Somalia, transport to and from his appointments and a month’s supply of anti-depressant medication.
Lack of funding
Meanwhile, the woman he brutally attacked in the UK, now a mother of two, says she has struggled to find such help to cope with the mental anguish she has endured.
More than £1million in legal, prison and deportation costs have been frittered away thanks to Ahmed’s repeated appeals.
Yet counselling services for victims wither on the vine.
Rape crisis centres across the country issued panicked warnings earlier this year that they are being forced to shut waiting lists due to a lack of funding.
Ahmed’s victim, who was lured into a terrifying trap by her attackers who then took it in turns to rape her, says she endured years of frustration trying to access specialised mental health treatment.
The distressing truth is if you are raped in Britain today your chances of receiving justice, let alone counselling, are slim.
In a 2022 report, Victims’ Commissioner Dame Vera Baird confirmed, for victims, reporting rape is effectively a lottery.
In the year to December 2021, there were 67,125 rape offences recorded — an all-time high. But the numbers of convictions almost halved (2,689 in 2016/17 compared to 1,409 in 2020/21).
Only five per cent of rapes that were given an outcome by police ended in a charge.
The law must start working in the interest of the most vulnerable victims, not those intent on gaming the system.
Golden girl Hannah is a Christmas miracle
Hannah Waddingham’s has a new Christmas musical coming out
MY girl crush on glamazonian Ted Lasso actress Hannah Waddingham went up a notch after spotting a trailer for her AppleTV musical, Home For Christmas, out tomorrow.
The former West End star already has a huge international comedy hit under her belt, has hosted the Olivier Awards, co-hosted the Eurovision Song Contest and now, it seems, conquered Christmas with this winter wonderland extravaganza, filmed at the London Coliseum.
My festive season will be spent wondering how one woman can be so bloody talented.
Thanks a mill, Simon
GettyTaking Fridays off is a nice idea, Simon, but most working parents do not have a retinue of personal staff or hundreds of millions in the bank[/caption]
MULTI-MILLIONAIRE and part-time parenting expert Simon Cowell has told us we should all start taking Fridays off to spend quality time with our kids.
In a recent interview, the dad-of-one even cited driving 25 miles to buy a pack of Pokemon cards on a whim as a suggested activity for these down days.
The 64-year-old telly mogul, formerly famed for his ferocious work ethic, has declared there is “no need” to work on Fridays and we should stop looking at emails at 5.30pm, play with our kids or watch a family movie.
It is a nice idea Si, but most working parents do not have a retinue of personal staff or hundreds of millions in the bank.
Fridays are usually a scramble to get work finished in order to have a chance of some down time at the weekend, not to mention a tidy round the house, the weekly grocery shop and making inroads into the Forth Road Bridge of laundry.
Perhaps when I have made my first million I will give it a try.
Ditch Black Friday
EVERY year retail experts warn that festive spending is set to slump.
Then, like a Christmas miracle, every January we read that it was, in fact, a bumper year for retailers.
Accountancy firm PwC is the latest outfit trying to scare us into the shops, warning fewer of us will be hunting down bargains this Black Friday, a concept imported from the US.
I lived in America for five years and, over there, Black Friday falls the day after Thanksgiving, the country’s biggest national holiday.
It is the equivalent of our Boxing Day sales, where shops slash prices to get people spending while they are off work.
Here, Black Friday is just another excuse to make us part with our money.
If it is going to be inflicted upon us, can we at least have Thanks-giving and a day off too?
Josie’s done it right
Josie Gibson has dropped two dress sizes after shunning quick fixes and taking up exerciseRex
THIS Morning’s Josie Gibson made a strong start to I’m A Celeb.
She looked fab too, having dropped two dress sizes after shunning quick fixes and taking up exercise.
You can’t blame people for wanting immediate results, but the current boom in “fat jabs” is strangling supplies of its active ingredient for those who really need it.
The situation reached such a crisis that the Government said medicines, such as Ozempic, should only be prescribed to treat Type-2 diabetics in order to protect supplies.
Yet while NHS Type-2 patients struggle to get prescriptions filled, there are plenty of online pharmacies with weight-loss drugs for sale for hundreds of pounds.
For those with chronic weight issues, drugs such as Ozempic can be game-changing.
Society generally doesn’t show much sympathy to obese people. Those with food issues can’t just stop eating and often need more drastic help.
Those ordering medicines to shed a few pounds would do better to follow Josie’s example.
On that note… call me
USUALLY more concerned with pressing matters such as how many forks should be laid at a place setting, Debrett’s has issued a “ten commandments” of polite mobile phone use.
The 250-year-old authority on etiquette claims ringing people out of the blue is a big no-no, instead you should text to arrange a call. Young people, in particular, are apparently “alarmed” by their phone ringing.
Yet to my great disappointment, there was nothing on the ongoing scourge of WhatsApp voice notes.
These are dumps of whatever waffle is on the sender’s mind delivered directly into your handset, including “umms”, “aahs” and pointless asides the recipient has to listen to.
If you can’t be bothered to type it, don’t send it, or call instead.
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