Sudanese asylum seeker who arrived in UK after claim was rejected in France lay in wait on high street for lone woman before slashing her 30 times with a broken bottle
Ibrahim Albashir, a 34-year-old Sudanese asylum seeker, has been jailed for 25 years after admitting the attempted murder of a lone woman he attacked with a broken bottle in Headingley, Leeds, in March 2024. The case, heard at Leeds Crown Court, exposed significant failings by authorities in both France and the UK, as Albashir had already been diagnosed with catatonic schizophrenia and had his asylum claim rejected in France before travelling on to Britain via people smugglers.
The 32-year-old victim was slashed around 30 times to her chest and neck as she walked home from a meal with friends, with the judge noting a "sexual element" to the assault; she was saved only when members of the public heard her screams and knocked Albashir unconscious. Before the attack, Albashir had lived in several UK cities, sexually assaulted a hostel worker in Birmingham, and been stopped by police in Leeds two days earlier while behaving erratically, though no action was taken. He was sentenced alongside a hospital order and will remain in secure psychiatric custody unless he recovers.
- Sudanese asylum seeker jailed 25 years for Leeds bottle attack on woman
- France had rejected his asylum claim; he had catatonic schizophrenia
- Victim saved by passers-by after "blood-curdling screams"
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Ibrahim Albashir, a 34-year-old man from Sudan, has been jailed for 25 years after admitting the attempted murder of a woman in Headingley, a suburb of Leeds, in March 2024. He had sought asylum in France, where his claim was turned down, before travelling to the UK with the help of people smugglers, and was already living with a diagnosis of catatonic schizophrenia at the time.
The case has drawn attention because of what it revealed about gaps in how Albashir was monitored by authorities before the attack. He had lived in several UK cities, had previously sexually assaulted a hostel worker in Birmingham, and had been stopped by police in Leeds just two days before the attack after behaving erratically, though no action was taken against him then.
The victim, a 32-year-old woman, was attacked as she walked home alone and survived only after bystanders intervened. The case is likely to feature in wider debates about the asylum system, cross-border information sharing between France and the UK, and how mental health concerns are handled by police and immigration authorities.