SPECIAL INVESTIGATION: Fugitive migrants wanted over 'murders and rapes' using Channel crossings to flee justice in Europe

THE scale of the security threat posed by continued Channel crossings is today laid bare as a UK News and Investigations probe exposes how fugitive migrants wanted in connection with the most serious crimes including murders and rapes are regularly using small boats as a way to sneak into the UK to try to evade justice in Europe.

Migrants from Middle Eastern and African countries have slipped into the country after being identified as suspects in violent, sexual and other offences in EU countries.

Many fugitives have fled here from Germany, where migrant crime gangs established after Angela Merkel opened its borders to about 1.2 million refugees in 2015 and 2016, an investigation by this website has found.

Germany is now seeking so many foreign migrants from the UK that it is responsible for more than a quarter of all extradition requests made to us by EU countries.

Many of the migrant suspects left Germany within days of a serious offence being committed there, before making their way to the French coast and on to the UK, creating new fears the Channel crossings are being exploited by on the run criminals and they are not always identified by UK Border Force.

In some cases fugitives had already been convicted of serious offences in European courts before fleeing or while on the run.

In one shocking case, wanted Lebanese crime gang member Mohammed Roumieh, who had 15 serious convictions in Germany, was given asylum, a taxpayer-funded home, and placed on benefits here after he gave a false name to immigration officials when he arrived in November 2024.

He was only arrested after his true identity was discovered four months later.

In another case, it took so long to order the extradition of Afghan migrant Abdul Wali Ahmadzai, who was wanted in Germany in connection with a 2017 sex atack on a 14-year-old girl, after he claimed asylum, that he commited a sexual assault in a Swansea park last year.

Our findings further expose how the Labour Government has broken its pledge to "smash the gangs".

Its one-in-one-out scheme has seen just 42 migrants returned to France since it began as a pilot in August, and the Channel crossings continue despite the worsening weather, with 589 arriving in ten boats between October 16 and 22 and in the week ending October 12 1,932 arrived in 27 boats.

Our investigation looked at extradition cases at Westminster Magistrates' Court, which handles all such requests in England and Wales, over the past 12 months, with many cases of fugitive migrants entering via the Channel or in lorries.

On Friday, October 17, convicted paedophile Izalden Alshaik Suleman, 32, was arrested by the NCA extradition unit where he was staying at the Home Office-funded Britannia Ashley Hotel in Hale (above), Manchester.

He was brougt before the court the next day, which heard he is wanted in Germany to serve a sentence for the sexual assault of a child.

He did not consent to extradition and was remanded in custody, due to his risk of absconding, ahead of a future hearing.

Earlier this month Sherzad Haji Mohammed, 29, an Iraqi national was arrested on a warrant from Germany, where he is wanted in connection with murder and GBH, after entering the UK illegally.

He appeared at the court and was remanded into custody due to having "links abroad" and due to his "immigration status."

Our findings about the types of people who have been able to enter the country will add further embarrassment to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood (above) who admitted to European counterparts at a meeting in Lancaster House on Wednesday, October 15, that the UK had lost control of its borders.

On Wednesday, October 22, in a statement, she said the numbers still crossing were "shameful" and "the British people deserve better"

and vowed to take "further and faster" action to stop boats arriving without any hint of how this would be achieved.

Our findings have compounded fears that the Labour Government is allowing a huge security risk for the country to continue by failing to stop the crossings, which are made up of around 70 percent adult men, as it has fuelled fears over exactly who has been able to enter the country via small boats and other illegal means.

The probe has led to calls for an urgent investigation into exactly who has been able to enter the country illegally and how so many fugitives have been able to cheat our border security, and for the Channel crisis to be declared a national emergency.

Chris Philp MP, (above) Shadow Home Secretary, said: “These reports confirm what we have long warned and are only the tip of the iceberg. It should never have been possible for anyone with serious convictions abroad to claim asylum here. Yet under Labour, we have foreign offenders with dozens of convictions being granted indefinite leave to remain and access to benefits. That is a complete collapse of border control and public safety.

“This has now become a national emergency. The government must immediately investigate who has entered the country illegally and who has been granted asylum or benefits despite criminal histories."

Sir John Hayes, Tory MP for South Holland and the Deepings, (below) who is Chairman of the Conservative Common Sense and a member of the Parliamentary Intelligence and Security Committee, pledged to raise urgent questions in Parliament as a result of our probe.

He said: "The level of fugitives getting through is shocking and this now requires urgent action from the Government and I will be taking the necessary steps to ensure that happens, firstly by raising a series of questions in Parliament. The Government absolutely needs to get a grip on this and establish exactly who has been able to enter the country via the Channel and other means and what, if any, security risks they pose."

Several men, who entered the country illegally from countries including Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Eritrea over the past 12 months, have been found in the UK after it was discovered they were wanted by German or other EU countries' police forces in connection with crimes including murders, attempted murders, manslaughter, rapes, drug trafficking, armed robbery and people smuggling.

Some of the alleged fugitives were in the process of claiming asylum in the UK, when it was discovered they were wanted, and some were living in taxpayer-funded Home Office accommodation when they were arrested by NCA officers.

Some migrants continue to fight against extradition, with the court listing many as living in Home Office hotels at the point of arrest, and many of their cases are also funded by taxpayers through legal aid.

Our investigation has seen a pattern of migrant fugitives arguing through so-called activist lawyers that they should not be extradited on grounds that they are at risk from the German established migrant crime gangs, that its prosecutors claim they are actually members of.

In some cases wanted migrants have claimed asylum under false names and their status was not initially identified during immigration checks.

Analysis of extradition cases shows large numbers of European Arrest Warrants (EAWs) being issued by EU member states for suspects who have later been found in the UK.

Germany has sought the most foreign migrants for extradition from the UK over the past 12 months compared to other EU members.

In the year from April 2023 to March 2024 it issued a huge 2,618 arrest warrant requests to the UK, which was 24 percent of all those received from EU members.

This grew by more than seven percent to 2,814 for the 12 months to March 2025, which was 26 percent of all such requests.

Only a fraction of these ever lead to an arrest and extradition hearing, meaning many more could be at large.

The NCA, which oversees extraditions, has yet to work out if the recent increase relates to the Channel crossings.

Our research shows it has issued EAWs for at least six alleged murderers, plus more in connection with manslaughters, GBH and sex crimes in the last year.

The second most EAWs for fugitive migrants have been issued by Belgium, also involving alleged killers and rapists, with smaller amounts coming from France, Austria, Romania, Sweden and Cyprus.

With the majority of migrant fugitives wanted for serious crimes remanded into custody, most are being held in our already bursting prisons for months.

Alp Mehmet, Chairman of Migration Watch UK, (above) said: “The government must establish what has happened quickly and tell us. This is the sort of investigation the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration should be commissioned by the Home Office to undertake. What terrific journalism, but this could be the tip of a much bigger iceberg. Much time and money could be saved and huge risks to the public avoided were greater scrutiny and care taken at the border. Dealing with migrants without documents - usually because they’ve destroyed them - as if passing them through a Lidl’s check-out, is senseless and dangerous.

"Those who come here illegally should be interviewed by experienced officials and held until a reliable decision can be made. Giving everyone the benefit of the doubt and hoping for the best is not the way to do it. The onus should always be on the migrant to make his case not for officials to disprove it.”

The NCA fears that migrants can easily enter the UK from Germany across the Channel, after travelling through France or Belgium.

On Friday Sudanese asylum seeker Deng Majek (above) was found guilty at Wolverhampton Crown Court of the murder of Rhiannon Whyte, who worked at the Park Inn hotel, in Walsall, where he was being housed after his illegal arrival in summer 2024.

Majek stabbed Rhiannon, 27, 23 times with a screwdriver before celebrating her death on October 20 last year just weeks after arriving in the country from Germany, which rejected his asylum claim.

The court heard while Majek claims to be 19, German police records, from when he was arrested for alleged criminal damage in August 2023, included a date of birth showing him to now be 27.

It says many people smuggling gangs are embedded in Germany, where many of the boats used for the dangerous Channel crossings have been sourced.

The British authorities have been concerned about the role of German people smuggling gangs helping to facilitate Channel crossings, by sourcing and storing equipment, since at least last year.

At the start of December, NCA officers supported a major German operation targeting an Iraqi people smuggling network that led to 13 arrests and the seizure of 21 boats, 24 engines, life jackets, pumps and cash.

On December 9 the UK and Germany agreed to a joint plan aimed at "breaking the business model of people smuggling gangs."

In a deal reached between then Home Secretary Yvette Cooper (above) and then German Federal Minister of the Interior and Community Nancy Faeser, the two countries agreed Germany would create a new criminal offence of facilitating the smuggling of migrants to the UK.

It was aimed at giving German prosecutors more tools to tackle the supply and storage of dangerous small boats equipment.

Then, in April, the NCA revealed it was working with the German Bundespolizei (BPOL) to warn the country's maritime equipment suppliers to take extra precautions to stop equipment ending up in the hands of cross-Channel people smugglers.

It followed a joint investigation which saw a boat and engine sourced by a firm in Lower Saxony seized by BPOL as it was being transported towards the Dutch border on April 9 this year.

NCA investigators, who were working with German partners, believed its eventual destination would have been to people smugglers on the northern French coast, who are organising crossings to the UK.

The same marine company was previously identified as having supplied numerous inflatable boats and engines which had been used during life-threatening crossings of the English Channel by irregular migrants.

It was visited by German law enforcement and the NCA on April 16 to warn them about the threat this posed and of future consequences if they continued to do so.

The operation was part of an ongoing drive by UK and German law enforcement to target organised crime supply routes and prevent dangerous boats being put in the water. Across Europe the NCA has worked with partners to seize more than 600 boats and engines in the last 18 months.

NCA Regional Head of Investigation Jacque Beer NCA said: "Last year at least 78 people died attempting to cross the English Channel in small boats. Organised crime groups involved in people smuggling do not care about the safety or welfare of those they transport, viewing migrants as a commodity to be exploited.

"There is no safe way to cross the English Channel – the world's busiest shipping lane – by small boat. Every time a boat goes in the water, the lives of those on board are in peril.

"The marine industry is at risk of abuse from people smugglers attempting to source equipment, including boats and engines, to commit these crimes and put lives at risk. We encourage vigilance, people should follow their gut feeling and report any suspicious behaviour to law enforcement."

A Home Office spokesperson said: “Mandatory security checks are an essential part of our border controls and are conducted on all small boat arrivals, by linking biometric data to immigration, security and criminality databases. Where criminals or threats are identified, we seek to remove them as soon as possible.

"Intelligence gathering at intake sites goes much further than interviews on arrival. Border Force employs a range of investigative techniques to track crossings and build a full intelligence report including, technology such as drones to map Channel activity and cooperation with international partners to trace the origin of arrivals into Europe and beyond.

"Our Border Security and Asylum Bill will also extend powers to allow Immigration Enforcement, police and the NCA to seize electronic devices such as mobile phones from people who come here illegally, before the point of arrest, if intelligence suggests that it would help gather information on organised immigration crime.

"Any individual who is considered to pose a risk will have robust licensing conditions, including being allocated accommodation with the appropriate level of supervision and restrictions.

"Legal aid is granted only after a thorough assessment of an applicant’s individual merits and financial circumstances, with the funding – currently less than one percent of total legal aid expenditure – paid directly to legal representatives rather than applicants themselves."

Asked if the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration would investigate, a spokesperson said: "The ICIBI are not prepared to make specific responses to the comments raised at this stage, as this is not an area the ICIBI has investigated recently.

"However, the ICIBI notes the concerns made. The ICIBI is currently inspecting refusals made at the border, and, depending on the outcome of that investigation, the Chief Inspector will consider whether there is scope for a further investigation along the lines suggested."

CASE STUDIES

1, Afghan national Milad Rahimi, 25, was arrested by the NCA extradition unit on an EAW in the Manston Immigration Detention Centre in Kent on April 19 this year after crossing the Channel on a small boat.

Rahimi had illegally entered the UK after fleeing from Germany across France after a 17-year-old boy was stabbed to death by the Schlossparkcenter shopping center in Schwerin, near Hamburg, on the evening of February 4 this year.

German police launched a major Europe-wide manhunt for the suspect, initially issuing a composite sketch (below) of the suspected knifeman and then publicly identifying Rahimi as the suspect and circulating his photograph to the German media.

Jonas Krüger, spokesman for the Schwerin public prosecutor's office, said about three weeks after the murder that Rahimi "remained on the run."

German media reports said that Rahimi had been given asylum in Germany on humanitarian grounds before the murder.

Rahimi (below) was suspected of being the knife man who stabbed a 17-year-old Afghan boy after an argument near the shopping centre. The victim was initially resuscitated but died an hour later, according to local police.

The suspect was able to flee and police were concerned he may try to flee overseas, so the EAW was circulated across Europe.

At a Westminster Magistrates' Court hearing on April 28 he consented to extradition and was sent back to Germany on May 15, where he remains in pre-trial custody.

2, When UK Border Force staff detained an Afghan national at the immigration detention centre in Manston, Kent, after he crossed the Channel on October 4 2024, he gave his name as Suhib Ahmadza.

But, he was arrested by officers from NCA extradition unit the next day after checks, including fingerprint analysis, found he was Bashir Ahmad Bakari, 25, and wanted on an EAW from Germany as a suspect in a murder.

According to German authorities Bakari fled to France shortly after the murder of a 29-year-old Afghan man outside a subway station in the area Billstedt of Hamburg on August 19 2024.

French reports said the man and his 20-year-old nephew were in an altercation with a group of around 30 migrants when the victim was fatally injured.

Bakari, was brought before Westminster Magistrates' Court on October 7 last year when he did not consent to extradition.

The court heard that German prosecutors alleged Bakari and another man ran at the victim and used pepper spray on him before he received four stab wounds, piercing an artery and a lung. He was pronounced dead at the scene. (both images below).

The court heard that two witnesses said Bakari made efforts to flee after the offence by packing belongings at his flat.

He and the co-defendant met Bakari's brother and another man at a service station, it was alleged.

A recording of Bakari's brother's phone captured a conversation in which he told an unidentified person he took his brother to France on September 5 and "sent him to London", the court heard,

Bakari has three convictions in Germany, after arriving there in 2016, for drug dealing, making threats, and intentional bodily harm.

Bakari denied being at the murder scene and claimed he left Germany for France in July 2024, before spending three months in the "Jungle" at Calais, before making the crossing.

He said he used a false name and date of birth to evade Afghan gang members who were out to kill him and his life would be in danger if he were returned to Germany.

He told the court he was trafficked into Germany and was at risk from migrant gangs as he gave evidence to German police as part of another murder investigation after he witnessed his friend being killed.

District Judge Michael Snow found him to be an evasive witness and ordered his extradition to Germany in January.

He wrote in his judgement: "When detained by the immigration authorities he provided a different identity. He has a number of convictions in Germany. I am satisfied that he is not an individual who respects the law."

He was extradited on March 20 and taken into custody in Germany.

3, An international manhunt for a knifeman wanted in Germany in connection with a brutal stabbing ended at a UK immigration centre.

Davut Elitas, 26, was arrested on an EAW at Yarl's Wood Immigration Detention Centre in Bedford, on March 1 2025, suggesting he had made it into the country before being found here illegally.

He was wanted by German Police for attempted murder in connection with a man aged 40, who was left with life-threatening injuries, after what police believed was a targeted attack in Heilsbronn at 8:45am on February 6.

There was a major search for two suspected attackers involving several police, dogs and a helicopter, but no one was caught.

German Police later named Elitas as a suspect and released an image of him (above) and clothing worn one by one of the suspects (below) as part of the search.

A spokesperson for the Ansbach public prosecutor's office said: "The victim suffered life-threatening injuries and had to be treated in a hospital. The 40-year-old is currently in a stable condition and has already been questioned.

"There was increasing evidence that two men were involved in the crime, who apparently only travelled to Heilsbronn to commit the crime.

"Through extensive criminal tactical measures and investigations, it was now possible to identify the suspect as Elitas Davut."

"The SOKO "Gundekar" is currently carrying out further extensive measures to locate and arrest the suspect and his accomplice who are on the run. In addition, the motive for what happened still needs to be determined."

At a brief hearing at Westminster Magistrates Court Elitas did not oppose being extradited to Germany and was remanded into custody ahead of an extradition flight on March 19.

4, AN Afghan migrant fled Germany the same day a woman was knifed to death in her apartment before illegally making his way to the UK, a court heard.

Said Hosinkhil, 27, had claimed asylum in Germany and was provided with accommodation there until he left after the woman's death.

A Westminster Magistrates' Court extradition hearing heard allegations that Hosinkhil visited the victim at her address in Gluckstad, northern Germany, on the evening of January 31 2024.

The official judgment of the case, written by District Judge John Law, detailed the German allegations: "Following an argument, (he) took a knife from the kitchen and inflicted numerous cuts and stabs leading as intended to her death.

"Extradition is sought pursuant to an accusation warrant in respect of one allegation of manslaughter committed on 1 February 2024."

He is understood to have left Germany the same day and there is no record of him legally entering the UK, but by March the same year he had claimed asylum here.

He was arrested on a European Arrest Warrant (EAW) for alleged manslaughter on March 8 2024 at Home Office asylum accommodation in West Yorkshire.

The first extradition hearing at the court on March 11 heard he could face up to 15 years in prison if convicted in Germany.

Hosinkhil, who was said to suffer from PTSD, told the British court he had never been to Germany.

However, evidence from the German authorities said he was arrested there on September 14 2023, when he allegedly had no ID documents and gave a false date of birth, before making his asylum claim.

Ordering his extradition, Judge Law wrote: "There is no evidence of legal entry clearance into the UK. The requested person has no identification documents and no ties to the UK. He provided false details to the Home Office and was using an alias but was traced by biometric data and a distinctive tattoo."

Hosinkhil has lodged an appeal blocking his extradition.

5, A CAREER criminal linked to an Arab gang based in Berlin was given asylum in the UK within weeks of arriving illegally in the back of a lorry, despite having convictions including violence and possession of a firearm and being wanted in connection with a Berlin crime spree.

Lebanese national Nahi Bourgi - aka Mohammed Roumieh -  40, was living in a four bedroom home in a suburban Hammersmith street paid for by benefits when he was arrested by the National Crime Agency (NCA) extradition unit on March 18 this year.

The European Arrest Warrant alleged he was part of a gang who stole trolley loads of goods from supermarkets in Berlin before selling the items on from another shop.

Together with "accomplice" Fadie Rabih, 34, (in court below) he is alleged to have struck 14 times between July and September 2023, stealing a total of more than £15,000 worth of stock.

Bourgi has 15 convictions in Germany received between 2004 and 2021, including drug trafficking, an attempted prison break, gbh, theft, burglary and facilitating unauthorised entry.

On July 1 2021 he received the most serious with nine months in prison for intentionally carrying a semi-automatic handgun to fire cartridge ammunition.

He told Westminster Magistrates' Court that he returned from Germany to Lebanon, from where he had fled, in August or September 2023.

The last offence he was wanted for in Berlin was on September 29 2023.

The court heard he travelled into the UK in the back of a lorry in November 2024 and claimed asylum under a false name.

Within weeks he was given asylum with five years leave to remain and housed and placed on benefits.

His co accused Rabih has made headlines in Germany after he was charged with the same theft offences and it emerged his brother Nidal Rabih, 36, (his funeral below) a key migrant gang figure shot dead in Berlin in 2018.

At his extradition hearing Roumieh denied having any convictions or knowing he was wanted. He claimed to have been smuggled into Germany and the UK and was at threat from gangs in Germany if returned.

But, the judge recorded in his judgement: "I found the RP to be an evasive and dishonest witness. I am sure that the RP used the name Mohammad Rouimeh and that the 15 convictions relate to him."

He was extradited to Germany on 14 August 2025.

 6, AN Iranian asylum seeker was being housed by the Home Office when it was discovered he was wanted in Germany for allegedly carrying out a vicious rape of a woman.

Nadi Sattar, 30, came to the UK in a small boat in March 2024 not long after his temporary asylum in Germany expired.

In a European Arrest  Warrant the German authorities alleged that on July 18 2021 he forced the woman into a sex act and threatened to kill her and her family if she told the police.

At a Westminster Magistrates' Court (above) hearing, Sattar admitted to a sex act, but said it was consensual.

He said he left Germany because after converting to Christianity, his life had been in danger from Muslim Iranians, who he claimed were working with Iranian secret services to get him deported.

He said his life was in danger if he was sent to Iran and that he also suffered with heart and mental health problems.

District Judge John Zani ordered his extradition in February saying his evidence about threats faced was general and vague.

He was extradited to Germany on March 11 this year.

7, An Afghan migrant was convicted of a sex assault in Wales while he was fighting extradition to France for abusing a 14-year-old girl.

Abdul Wali Ahmadzai, 37, entered the UK illegally in 2019 by an unknown means and made an asylum claim.

It was later discovered he was wanted in France in connection with a sex assault on a 14-year-old girl at his asylum accommodation in Quimperle on April 5 2017.

Ahmadzaiad disappeared after the attack, according to French prosecutors.

He was first arrested on a European Arrest Warrant (EAW) on 22 July 2021 and his extradition to France was ordered on 14 October 2021.

However, he could not be removed due to an outstanding asylum claim and his extradition was time barred.

Ahmadzaiad was later acquitted of the offence after a trial in his absence, but then convicted on appeal and sentenced to five years.

A new EAW was issued in January this year, by which time Ahmadzaiad, who uses a string of aliases, had already carried out another sex attack in the UK.

Court records show that on April 14 2024 a female was sexually touched in Cwmdonkin Park, Swansea, (above) on 14 April 2024.

On 8 May 2024 before West Glamorgan Magistrates Court, Ahmadzaiad was convicted of sexual assault for the offence and was sentenced to six months imprisonment, which was remarkably suspended for 18 months.

In February he was brought back to Westminster Magistrates' Court.

He told the court he was the head of the crime department for the Home Office in Baghlan, Afghanistan, but left in 2015 as his life was in danger.

He was in receipt of benefits at the time of his arrest and lawyers argued he should not be extradited due to "poor" French prison conditions.

District Judge Jo Matson ordered his extradition on October 10, but he has yet to be sent.

8,  An Iranian migrant, who was granted asylum in Germany, fled to the UK on a Channel boat just over a month after he was placed under investigation for 32 drug supply offences.

Fayagh Koufi, 41, was facing up to 15 years in prison when he illegally entered the UK on May 21 2022 before making an asylum claim.

It was amid claims he was at risk from a migrant crime gang in Bochum, Germany, who alleged he owed them money.

He was housed in Home Office hotels despite being wanted and already having seven convictions in Germany for thefts and benefit fraud received between 2017 and 2022.

Koufi had arrived in Germany in 2015, during the Angela Merkel (above) migration wave, and was granted asylum and benefits.

He told Westminster Magistrates' Court he left Germany six weeks after the drugs investigation because he thought it was over and he was at risk from the gang.

He said he paid €1,500 for himself and his teenage son to cross by boat before the Home Office put them in two hotels, including one in Hounslow.

He was arrested on July 13, 2023, for possession with intent to supply class A drugs and convicted after trial and sentenced at Isleworth Crown Court to three and a half years in prison, before being released on January 10, this year.

During the UK investigation it emerged he was wanted in Germany and also arrested for that. The extradition case was adjourned to allow for the British trial to conclude.

Lawyers for Koufi argued he should not be extradited due to the threat from the gang and risk of deportation to Iran, but  District Judge Timothy King, said there was no real evidence for the gang threat and ordered his extradition on September 23.

He has yet to be extradited.

9, A CONVICTED people smuggler came to the UK illegally after he spent nine years trying to claim asylum in Germany.

Westminster Magistrates' Court heard that Iraqi national Mohammad Hassan Watman, 36, was due to be deported from Germany back to Iraq when he entered the UK through an unknown way in June 2024.

He claimed asylum and was in Home Office accommodation in Leicester when he was arrested on a European Arrest Warrant on April 16 2025.

Germany requested his extradition in connection with allegations he was in a group illegally bringing foreign nationals over the Austria-German border in October and November 2022. The offences had a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.

The court heard he had received a suspended prison sentence for similar offences in May 2023.

Watman argued he should not be extradited because he had already been convicted of similar offending around the same time, but District Judge Neeta Minhas said the new alleged offences were more serious and ordered his return. He was extradited to Germany on 9 September 2025.

10, A SYRIAN teenager paid £1,100 to people smugglers to get him to the UK in a small boat 12 days after he allegedly drove a stolen Mercedes at three police cars as he tried to escape.

Omer Ahmad, 18, is wanted in Germany to face three counts of attempted murder, in relation to trying to drive head-on at the vehicles, and theft of a motor vehicle.

After arriving in the UK on October 25 last year he was being housed in a Home Office hotel in Bristol following an asylum claim and a separate application to be considered a victim of modern-day slavery.

Westminster Magistrates' Court heard he is alleged to have stolen the £26,000 car in Wustenrot, Germany, between October 11 and 12 2024.

In the early hours of October 13, it is alleged that he drove at a parked car that moved out of the way, before driving head on at the three pursuing police vehicles, who also evaded his car.

He then ploughed into stationary cars and fled on foot, it is alleged. The court heard he faces up to ten years in prison if convicted.

He was arrested at his asylum accommodation on November 6 last year and remanded into custody after a first appearance at the court.

A month later Bristol City Council referred him to the National Referral Mechanism to establish if he was a victim of modern slavery following claims he had been forced into crimes by a drug gang in Germany.

He was previously twice jailed in Germany following two separate convictions for GBH in 2023.

Speaking through an Arabic interpreter, he said his family left Syria in 2013 to flee the civil war and they lived in Turkey, then Greece, before moving to Germany in 2018.

He was then taken in by a cannabis gang made up of Algerians and Moroccons who he said he got into debt with and was attacked by after he refused to keep selling drugs.

Ahmad told the court he did not steal and was not driving the car which was driven by a gang member.

He said he has PTSD and would suffer in a German prison.

However, District Judge Briony Clarke found him an evasive witness and ordered his extradition and he was sent on 3 September 2025.

11, An Afghan asylum seeker housed in hotels by the Home Office allegedly nearly killed a man in Germany, a court heard.

Tariqullah Hussainayar, 28, slipped into the UK on a small boat in January 2024.

He had spent time in Belgium and France and after another Afghan man was beaten by eight men, allegedly including Hussainayar, on December 4 2022.

The victim was part of an armed robbery gang of six men which struck at a shop where Hussainayar was working.

The gang fled after being confronted by eight men, but the victim was unable to escape and was taken to the floor, during which there were 72 blows over ten minutes, leaving him unconscious.  

Hussainayar is alleged to have delivered 19 of the kicks and punches, including 12 to the head or neck, before the man was left for dead.

He suffered a life-threatening traumatic brain injury and required a blood transfusion in an immediate emergency operation.

Hussainayar was arrested on November 27 2024 in London and brought before Westminster Magistrates' Court for extradition.

He told the court he acted in self defence. He said he served with British forces against the Taliban and after they regained control in 2021, he was tortured and spent months fleeing via Iran, Turkey, Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, Austria and Switzerland, before getting to Germany in 2022.

He said he left Germany ten or 11 months after the robber was attacked and did not know he was wanted by police and was in Belgium and France before crossing to the UK.

He was initially housed in the former military base at Wethersfield, Essex, (above) before being moved to hotels in London while his asylum claim was processed.

District Judge John Zani ruled he should be extradited in May and he was extradited to Germany on August 6 this year.