It was the kind of dedicated care you would perhaps expect to be provided to a traumatised rape victim. A personalised support package that included a three-and-a-half month stay at a comfortable hotel overlooking the Indian Ocean with a doctor on call to give crucial psychological therapy.
This is not, however, what was offered to Hannah, the victim of a horrific gang rape when she was just 16. Instead, it was laid on for her attacker, Yaqub Ahmed, as part of a desperate bid by the Home Office to secure his deportation to East Africa.
Court papers obtained by The Mail on Sunday detail how officials were forced to draw up an elaborate ‘care plan’ costing tens of thousands of pounds for Ahmed in a bid to defeat his attempts to thwart deportation to Somalia on human rights grounds.
The centrepiece of the package was for taxpayers to fund a 14-week stay for Ahmed at the Peace Hotel, near Aden Adde Airport in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu. It included free meals and is estimated to have cost up to £11,800.
With its spectacular roof terrace overlooking the Indian Ocean and tranquil courtyard garden, the hotel is an oasis of calm amid the chaos of Mogadishu. A popular choice among diplomats and business chiefs visiting the city, its attentive staff scatter pink flower petals on the beds of newly-arrived guests.
As part of a desperate bid by the Home Office to secure his deportation to East Africa, Yaqub Ahmed, was offered a series of luxury deals from security to therapy
A personalised support package that included a three-and-a-half month stay at a comfortable hotel overlooking the Indian Ocean with a doctor on call to give crucial psychological therapy
The centrepiece of the package was for taxpayers to fund a 14-week stay for Ahmed at the Peace Hotel, near Aden Adde Airport in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu. It included free meals and is estimated to have cost up to £11,800
The 45-room hotel’s website boasts of barbecue evenings, with guests invited to ‘enjoy a stunning view of Mogadishu city… with a selection of flame roasted barbecued meats’.
With its fortified gate and high compound walls, the hotel also prides itself on its security, with guests offered free body armour and the protection of a team of AK47-wielding bodyguards.
It’s ridiculous to have to do this to get rid of him
The MoS understands that Ahmed was flown to Somalia on a chartered flight to stop a repetition of his failed 2018 deportation when passengers on the flight, unaware of his crime, demanded he be led off the aircraft as it sat on the Heathrow tarmac.
It was last night unclear whether there were any other deported criminals aboard the chartered flight, which is estimated to have cost around £200,000.
Ahmed arrived at Mogadishu’s airport on August 2 and was met by his own detachment of armed guards, who escorted him to a waiting armour-plated vehicle. In the kind of security operation normally laid on for visiting VIPs, the vehicle, protected by a pick-up truck with armed guards perched on board, whisked him to the nearby hotel.
Security experts estimate the cost of that four-minute drive could have been up to £1,000.
A typical security detail provided by the hotel
Once at the Peace Hotel, Ahmed could take advantage of a ‘treatment plan specific to his needs’ that had been organised to help him cope with the stress of being removed from the UK.
The court papers reveal how this included ‘mental health medication and psychological services through a clinic’.
His care was to be overseen by a medic referred to in court papers as ‘Dr S’. The Home Office agreed that taxpayers would pay for a month’s supply of antidepressant medication, the papers state.
‘Dr S had confirmed that such treatment could be provided for a prolonged period of time and could include the provision of medication and psychological therapy either in person or remotely,’ one document added.
The rapist was to be driven to his regular appointments at the clinic. It is unknown whether this again involved an armoured vehicle and armed guards.
Last night, Hannah (not her real name) said it was ‘shocking’ that Home Office officials were forced to lay on support for Ahmed because of human rights laws.
‘The justice system isn’t fit for purpose,’ she said. ‘The fact they had to give him this outrageous package to be able to remove him is ridiculous. I’m grateful they did everything they did because we are finally rid of him but they shouldn’t have had to do that.’ The generous care package was drawn up after Ahmed claimed that deporting him to Somalia would breach his human rights because of the risk that he would take his life.
In July 2019, psychiatrist Dr Nuwan Galappathie assessed Ahmed and concluded he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and severe depression. But that was contradicted by another psychiatrist, appointed by the Home Office, who said that while he was suffering ‘some depressive symptoms’ they did not qualify as a diagnosis of depression.
For an appeal hearing, a third psychiatrist, concluded Ahmed’s symptoms were ‘mild… most of the time’, adding: ‘Once he arrives in Somalia and is provided with care [and] support either locally, or remotely from the UK, the risk of suicide is likely to decrease.’
After the 14 weeks accommodation was suggested, Ahmed finally dropped this legal challenge, before launching another claim that further delayed his deportation.
Ahmed’s taxpayer-funded package ran out earlier this month and it remains unclear how many nights he stayed at the Peace Hotel.
Owner Bashir Osman last night confirmed Ahmed had left and suggested he was not the first deported Somali to stay there.
‘I am not sure how long he was there. Sometimes there are some people like that – also they come from different countries – mostly they stay a week or two or a month. It’s a bit difficult to know… if they are deported or not.’