A migrant staying in a UK taxpayer-funded asylum hotel has been charged with abducting and raping a 15-year-old girl in west London.
Sri Lankan national Yashin Himasara, 20, is accused of beating and strangling the girl after he “carried her away against her will” in Feltham on November 1, UK media reports.
Himasara, who denies the charges, had been living in the three-star St Giles Hotel near Heathrow.
He appeared at Isleworth Crown Court via video-link from HMP Wormwood Scrubs, speaking to confirm his name and date of birth aided by a Sinhala interpreter.
Himasara denied one count of kidnapping, one count of rape, one count of assault by penetration, one count of assault by beating, one count of sexual activity with a child and two counts of intentional strangulation, according to the report.
His defence lawyer, Bozzie Sheffi, told the court Himasara struggles to speak English and would need the assistance of an interpreter at trial.
Himasara was remanded in custody ahead of his trial on April 27 next year.
“If you do not attend your trial, it will go ahead without you and you won’t be able to tell the jury your side of the story,” Judge Kwame Inyundo told the defendant.
“On top of that, you may be committing a separate offence.”
The judge asked if Himasara understood the allegations, to which he responded, “Yes.”
The Home Office refused to comment on Himasara’s asylum status to The Daily Mail.
“We are bearing down on foreign criminals and illegal migrants who exploit our laws by making vexatious human rights claims that ground flights,” a spokesperson said.
“As well as introducing the most significant reforms to tackle illegal migration in modern times, we are scaling up removals of people with no right to be here — with nearly 50,000 already removed. This action will make our country and its citizens safer, bringing an end to abuse of our legal system and securing Britain’s borders.”
