A Somalian asylum seeker accused of sexually assaulting an 18-year-old woman on a Bournemouth park bench has claimed his alleged victim initiated intimate contact, telling Winchester Crown Court jurors she kissed him before he reciprocated.
Abdinasir Elmi, 26, testified through a Somali interpreter that the teenager “put her arm around my neck and kissed me, and I kissed her back,” adding he placed his arm “around her stomach over her clothes” before she departed to meet her boyfriend.
The long-distance athlete—who trained alongside four-time British Olympic champion Sir Mo Farah and can complete 5km in under 15 minutes—denies two sexual assault counts relating to the 22 April incident in Bournemouth Gardens around 10.30pm.
Prosecutor Oliver Hirsch alleges Elmi deliberately targeted the teenager after monitoring her group throughout the evening before approaching once her friends departed, telling jurors: “In all likeliness Mr Elmi set out that night to have sex with a young woman and did not much mind if she consented.”
Defence barrister Tom Wright characterised his client as a “very impressive” runner whose ambition mirrors Farah’s achievements. “My ambition in life has always been to become a great athlete like Mo Farah and win many medals,” Elmi stated.
The defendant explained he left the Roundhouse Hotel—where the government accommodated him as an asylum seeker—for an evening walk “in order to give my muscles some relaxation” ahead of a 10km cross-country event the following day.
Elmi told jurors he had been “walking aimlessly” with “no intention of talking to anyone” when he noticed what sounded like a fight developing between the teenager’s group and another man.
He claimed the alleged victim’s friend greeted him whilst departing with her mother before the 18-year-old instructed him to wait whilst she said goodbye, subsequently suggesting they walk to Bournemouth Gardens together.
“I agreed to walk with her, but I was staying away from her, not getting close to her,” Elmi testified, explaining he joined her on a bench where they sat “very close” together before she received a boyfriend’s phone call.
The prosecution presented conflicting accounts, with the teenager reporting she had awaited a bus following her friend’s mother’s unexpected arrival in a two-seater vehicle unable to transport both girls home.
CCTV footage allegedly showed Elmi “walking around aimlessly” whilst observing “other groups of young girls” before the encounter.
The alleged victim reported the assault around midnight but initially could not identify her attacker as they were strangers, with Elmi providing no-comment interviews following his September arrest.
He has trained with Bournemouth Athletics Club since October 2024 after spending time in Somalia training alongside elite athletes including Farah and Bashir Abdi.
