An asylum seeker living in a hotel in Falkirk is set to stand trial after being accused of exposing himself and performing sexual acts directed at local residents.
Said Ageed, 23, is alleged to have masturbated on multiple occasions while looking out of a hotel window at a man and a woman in the area.
He is further accused of intentionally exposing his genitals in a sexual manner and making an obscene gesture at the same two people on August 16.
The incidents are said to have taken place at the Hotel Cladhan in Falkirk, Stirlingshire, between June 1 and August 16 this year. The hotel has been used to house asylum seekers since August 2022.
At Falkirk Sheriff Court, Ageed, whose official address was given as the Hotel Cladhan, pleaded not guilty to both charges. Court proceedings were interpreted into Kurdish for him. He remains on bail.
During the hearing, the court was told that CCTV footage from inside the hotel showed Ageed going in and out of a room that has been identified, but the evidence was described as not likely to be determinative in proving the allegations. Sheriff Alison Michie set the trial date for November 7.
The case has unfolded against a backdrop of heightened local tensions surrounding asylum accommodation in the town. Last weekend, hundreds of anti-immigration demonstrators gathered outside the Hotel Cladhan for the third protest of its kind. In the early hours of Tuesday morning, a brick was also thrown through one of the hotel’s windows.
Community concerns in Falkirk have been on edge since earlier this year, when another asylum seeker, 29-year-old Sadeq Nikzad from Afghanistan, was convicted of raping a teenage girl in the town centre. His conviction in June added to growing unease over the use of local hotels for housing asylum seekers.
The forthcoming trial of Ageed is likely to draw further scrutiny, with police and community leaders under pressure to manage tensions in the area.
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