An asylum seeker who punched a young woman unconscious outside a Bournemouth nightclub after she and her friends rejected his advances has been jailed for just six months, prompting anger from the victim's family. Abdoela Berhan, a 35-year-old Eritrean national, was found guilty of assaulting 20-year-old Cleo Lake, who was left in what was described as a "crumpled bloody mess" following the attack. The case has drawn criticism over the leniency of the sentence given the severity of the assault.

Berhan struck Miss Lake "full force" in the face in the early hours of 7 December 2024 outside the Cameo nightclub, knocking her unconscious. The conviction came just a week after he was found guilty of a separate attack on a Subway worker, and he maintained his innocence throughout the trial, claiming self-defence despite CCTV footage capturing the assault. Miss Lake's mother, Helen O'Brien, branded him a "disgusting human being" and said the six-month sentence "doesn't seem long enough."