Trial of failed asylum seeker abandoned because no interpreter could be found
A jury had been sworn in for the case of 26-year-old Abdinasir Elmi who is accused of an alleged sex attack on a woman in Bournemouth in April
Last updated 10th Feb 2026
The trial of a failed asylum seeker from Somalia for alleged sex offences has been abandoned after an interpreter could not be found.
A jury had been sworn in for the case of 26-year-old Abdinasir Elmi at Winchester Crown Court, who is accused of an alleged sex attack on a woman in Bournemouth, Dorset, on April 22 2025.
The 26-year-old was set to face trial on one count of sexual assault by penetration and the second charge is sexual assault by touching.
But Judge Rufus Taylor told the jury before any evidence could be heard that he was having to discharge them after a Somali interpreter could not be found for the hearing.
The judge said that the firm responsible for supplying interpreters to the courts, The Big Word, was unable to source an interpreter as "one is ill and one is not answering his phone".
He told the jury: "If you were facing trial in Mogadishu you would want to have an interpreter. It would simply be completely unfair to embark on this case without him being able to understand 100% of the case."
The court was told that Elmi was a "very promising" athlete and a "great hope for the future".
A previous hearing was told that Elmi's application for asylum had been turned down by the Home Office and he was appealing against the decision.
Judge Taylor adjourned the case for a new trial to start on April 7 and remanded Elmi in custody until then.