A man who has 27 different aliases pleaded guilty to failure to register as a sex offender in Ireland after serving jail time in the UK for the sexual assault of a woman.
The man, who has convictions under the names, Hoyda Hamad in Dublin and Wexford, Youssouf Angelina in Cork, and Youssouf Chergui in the UK, appeared before Judge Alan Mitchell at Cloverhill District Court this afternoon.
The man who claims to be 21-years-old, was convicted of a Section 2 assault of a woman in the East Wall area of Dublin last week after committing an “unprovoked assault” for which he was sentenced to three months in jail under the name Hoyda Hamad.
Today, appearing under the name Youssouf Chergui in relation to another matter, the man, whose solicitor, Darren Gray, said he “identifies as female” and is “non-binary” was sentenced to 2 months in jail for failing to inform the Irish authorities of his status as a sex offender in the UK.
Arrest in East Wall, Dublin.
Mr. Gray informed the court that his client, who made verbal interruptions during the course of the hearing, has two children with his partner who lives in London and is eager to return to them as he “hasn’t seen them in two years”.
The accused asked, “Please send me back to Europe”.
The sexual assault relevant to today’s appearance took place in the UK, where the accused has 8 criminal convictions under various aliases.
Addressing the court in relation to the accused, Garda Patrick Watson said “We don’t know who he is.”
Garda Watson detailed how the accused has “never provided any valid identification,” adding, “I don’t think anyone knows who he is.”
The accused, who claims to have dual Syrian and Algerian nationality, also has UK convictions for failure to comply with an order and possession of false identity documents with intent.
He was sentenced to 11 months in jail in respect to these matters, including a one month term for the sexual assault.
Garda Watson said that he is also purported to be from Libya as well as the other two countries.
When he was arrested on the 26th of July he provided “seven different addresses”, the court heard.
After his arrest due to the assault in East Wall, Dublin Gardaí were contacted by officers in Cork who confirmed that the suspect was known to them in relation to burglary related offences in their jurisdiction for which he received an 11 months sentence.
The man has a total of 20 previous convictions.
Under the name Youssouf Angelina he has convictions for breaches of Section 3 of the Misuse of Drugs Act, failure to produce a passport, and entering a building with intent.
The court heard that the accused, who was referred to by Mr. Gray with the “they” pronoun has been in Ireland for two years, but has not claimed asylum, or registered with the Gard National immigration Bureau.
Under the name Hoyda Hamad he has convictions in Wexford in relation to two charges of section 4 theft for which he received a 3 months suspended sentence last July, and entered into a section 99 bond to keep the peace for a period of 12 months.
“Please, can you help me judge,”
Garda Watson agreed with Mr. Gray, defending, that the case was “somewhat complicated” and that the guilty plea had been of assistance as it negated the need to call a Garda Sergeant from Cork before the courts.
He said that his client had “fled war” in Syria, and had presented himself to TUSLA claiming to be a minor, before examinations determined that this was not the case.
He asked Judge Mitchell to be “as lenient as possible”.
Social media
The court heard that images shared from the time of the assault in East Wall formed part of how Gardaí in different locations identified the accused in relation to the various aliases he had used in Ireland.
Deportation
When Judge Mitchell inquired what would happen to the accused when he is released from prison, and floated the possibility of his being deported, Garda Watson said, “We can’t find out who he is so we can’t send him back anywhere,”.
Judge Mitchell commented that the “Minister [for Justice] is big into deportation,” and that the accused would likely only come “before the system again” if released.
He said that the question of what to do with the accused was “above my pay grade” and “not my problem”, to which Garda Watson replied, “He’s our problem while he’s here.”
Watson added that the accused was “not cooperating”, to which Judge Mitchell quipped that “the system will break down” if he commits another offence “with a 28th alias”.
The accused was sentenced to two months in jail for failing to register as a sex offender, with a charge of providing false information to Gardaí taken into consideration.
“I strongly recommend that if you stay in Ireland you try to regularise your position,” Judge Mitchell said, adding that the accused is “liable to be arrested and deported.”
Hearing his sentence, the accused said, “Thank you judge, bye bye” before laughing as he left the prison video link box.