By GB News (World News) | Created at 2026-09-29 05:49:21 | Updated at 2026-09-29 06:35:17
1 hour ago
A Sudanese asylum seeker has been jailed after setting fire to a hotel in Bradford with 170 people inside.
Bradford Crown Court was told that Mohammed Abdalla, 28, set off the blaze after he was ordered to leave the Bradford Hotel on Hall Ings because of his poor behaviour on October 31 last year.
At the time of the fire, more than 160 asylum seekers were in the hotel, while there were 10 members of staff on shift.
Recorder Ella Anderson, sentencing, told the Sudanese migrant: "Your actions put all of those people at risk."
Tayo Dasaolu, prosecuting, told the court that the asylum seeker had been hanging around the lobby with his luggage for hours, repeatedly demanding to be allowed back into his room.
After being allowed to do so, the fire alarm went off, sending staff racing to the second floor of the hotel.
Mr Dasaolu said: "When the security staff saw the defendant he was sitting on a chair on the landing smiling at them."
The fire erupted by the television and desk area of the room and caused over £4,000 worth of damage.
Mohammed Abdalla, 28, ignited the blaze after he was ordered to leave the hotel because of his poor behaviour
WEST YORKSHIRE POLICE
In mitigation, his lawyer, Imran Khan, told the court that Abdalla had been experiencing mental health issues and had been in hospital 10 days before the blaze.
Mr Khan added that Abdalla had since made a recovery after taking medication while behind bars.
The Sudanese migrant admitted arson being reckless as to whether life is endangered at Bradford Crown Court and was sentenced to two years and seven months in prison.
The judge described the fire as "extremely serious" and praised the response by the members of staff in tackling the blaze.
Bradford Crown Court heard that the blaze caused more than £4,000 worth of damage to the room 
She told the court: "There were 150 to 160 residents and 10 members of staff.
"There was a significant risk of serious physical harm given the environment and how populated this hotel was."
Abdalla received the same prison sentence as Lucy Connolly - who merely posted on social media about setting fire to a hotel.
Mrs Connolly, 42, was jailed for stirring up racial hatred against asylum seekers online on the day of the Southport murders.
Recorder Ella Anderson praised the response by the members of staff at the Bradford Hotel in tackling the blaze
She was handed a 31-month sentence in October after sharing a post on X stating: "Mass deportation now, set fire to all the f****** hotels full of the b****** for all I care... if that makes me racist so be it."
Mrs Connolly deleted the posts three and a half hours later, after they were viewed over 310,000 times.
She pleaded guilty to inciting racial hatred by publishing and distributing "threatening or abusive" written material on X and was jailed at Birmingham Crown Court in October 2024.
The former childminder was ordered to serve 40 per cent of her sentence in prison before being released on licence.
