Asylum seeker found not guilty of sexual assault of woman in Bournemouth park
Twenty-six year old Abdinasir Elmi was cleared after a trial at Winchester Crown Court, where he denied all the charges
Last updated 13th Apr 2026
An asylum seeker from Somalia has been found not guilty of sexually assaulting an 18-year-old woman in a Bournemouth park.
Abdinasir Elmi, who was living at the Roundhouse Hotel in the Dorset seaside resort, was acquitted of sexual assault by penetration and sexual assault by touching on April 22 2025 following a trial at Winchester Crown Court.
The 26-year-old had been accused of walking with the teenager to Bournemouth Gardens where they sat on a bench where the incident was alleged to have happened.
Giving evidence, he told the court that he had not sexually assaulted the complainant and had only kissed her three times after she had kissed him and put her arm around him.
A previous court hearing was told that Elmi, an athlete, had his application for asylum turned down by the Home Office but he was appealing against that decision.