Warrant issued for arrest of asylum seeker who failed to return to court
Mustafa Al Mbaidin failed to return to court after a lunch break at Bournemouth Crown Court.
Last updated 11th Mar 2026
A judge has issued a warrant for the arrest of an asylum seeker accused of a “horrific assault” who failed to return to court following a lunch break in the hearing.
Mustafa Al Mbaidin, 29, who is from Jordan, had attended Bournemouth Crown Court for a hearing to determine the details of his offending after he pleaded guilty to a charge of wounding in connection with the attack on a man on January 24 2025.
John Dyer, prosecuting, told the court that the defendant had been with friend Muhammed Al-Aseel helping Sophie Burnett move into her new home in Southbourne, Dorset, and had been drinking through the day.
After Al Mbaidin started to make advances towards Ms Burnett, she asked him to leave and when Mr Al-Aseel started to encourage him to leave, he became aggressive and attacked him.
Mr Al-Aseel told the court that the defendant had been drinking Champagne during the day.
Mr Dyer said the defendant headbutted Mr Al-Aseel before putting him in a head lock and then striking him round the head with a bottle and a metal kettle with “considerable force”, leaving a dent in the kettle.
Mr Al-Aseel was treated at the scene by paramedics for the wound which was “bleeding profusely” before he was taken to hospital for further treatment.
The court heard that the defendant claimed he acted after Mr Al-Aseel had been aggressive towards him.
Ms Burnett told the court that the incident was “the most horrific physical assault I have seen in my life”.
She added: “I was deeply concerned because there was blood shooting up the sides of my kitchen” and added that Mr Al-Aseel had been “fearful so I was super-fearful”.
Ms Burnett said that she had received “eight months’ counselling with a trauma specialist, for four months I could not leave my house”.
After the court broke for lunch, the defendant, who was bailed to remain in the court building and its car park, failed to return for the continuation of the Newton hearing.
Issuing a warrant not backed for bail for his arrest and adjourning the case until Monday, Judge Kerry Maylin said: “I can be sure he absented himself as I bailed him with strict conditions he remain in the building or the precincts of the court.
“In reality, the only conclusion I can be drawn to is that he has voluntarily chosen to disobey the conditions that the court put on his bail.
“The reason I had put those conditions on his bail is because I had a feeling he might not come back. I have observed him in the dock and he has not been a happy individual.”
The judge added: “He may have been overwhelmed that witnesses have continued to maintain the accounts they gave at the police station or at the outset of this allegation.”