An asylum seeker has been jailed for six months for punching a 20-year-old woman unconscious outside a nightclub after she rejected his advances. Abdoela Berhan, 35, was found guilty of assaulting Cleo Lake in the early hours of December 7, 2024, outside the Cameo nightclub in Bournemouth.
Berhan, an Eritrean national, maintained his innocence throughout the trial, claiming self-defense, despite CCTV footage capturing the incident. The court heard that Lake and her friends had just left the nightclub when Berhan approached them. After his advances were rejected, Berhan punched Lake with significant force to the side of her head, knocking her unconscious.
Miss Lake sustained a black eye and a broken nose from the attack. Her mother, Helen O'Brien, described the incident as leaving her daughter in a "crumpled bloody mess" and stated that six months was not long enough for the assault.
District Judge Orla Austin, who handed Berhan the maximum sentence for assault, stated that the footage clearly showed a high level of violence and that Berhan's claim of self-defense was not credible. The judge noted that Berhan had denied the offenses and put the victim through a trial.
At the time of the attack, Berhan was residing in a taxpayer-funded hotel in Bournemouth. The assault occurred just one week after Berhan was convicted of a separate incident where he spat at and kicked a Subway worker.
Berhan had evaded police for 10 weeks, with three arrest warrants issued for his capture. He was eventually arrested on July 2 after presenting himself at a police station. During this period, he had been moved to another asylum hotel in Warwick. He claimed he was unaware of previous court dates.
Following the sentencing, Miss Lake expressed relief that Berhan had been sentenced, acknowledging the judge for imposing the maximum penalty available.
