Asylum seeker who stabbed six people before being shot dead made 72 calls for help before attack

Badreddin Abadlla Adam, 28, is understood to have contacted the Home Office and migrant support groups about his health and accommodation in the lead up to the 2020 attack

Badreddin Abadlla Adam called migrant support groups 72 times asking for help before he stabbed six people in Glasgow (Police Scotland/PA Wire)

An asylum seeker who stabbed six people before being shot dead by police made more than 70 calls seeking help from the Home Office and other organisations.

Badreddin Abadlla Adam, 28, was one of hundreds of asylum seekers moved into hotels in Glasgow at the start of the coronavirus lockdown.

It is understood he had contacted the Home Office, the housing and social care provider Mears, and the charity Migrant Help 72 times about his health and accommodation in the period leading up to the attack in June 2020.

An internal Home Office evaluation, seen by the BBC, said his calls “should have acted as a warning”.

It also found Adam had complained to staff in the hotel and was in touch with the Home Office about an assisted voluntary return to his home country.

The review is said to have made various recommendations, including developing a system to identify patterns of contact which may cause concern, and ensuring hotel staff are given “mental health awareness and de-escalation training”.

A spokesperson for the Home Office said “significant” changes have since been made.

On 26 June 2020, Adam stabbed six people in the Park Inn hotel in Glasgow, including three other asylum seekers, police constable David Whyte and two members of hotel staff.

Forensic officers at the scene in West George Street, Glasgow, where Adam was shot dead by armed officers (Andrew Milligan/PA)

Refugees for Justice was among multiple organisations and charities at the time raising concerns after Mears, which was subcontracted by the Home Office, moved refugees from self-contained accommodation to hotels.

Its members have been campaigning for an independent public inquiry into the Park Inn incident since 2020.

The organisation’s director, Dylan Fotoohi, told the BBC the Home Office review was a “shameful cover-up attempt”.

He said: “Lessons have not been learned, there has been no meaningful investigation, the biased evaluation report by the Home Office has been kept hidden and they have now expanded the exact same practice that led to these tragedies in Glasgow to other cities in Scotland.

“This is utterly unacceptable.”

A Home Office spokesperson said: “Due to the pandemic the Home Office had to use an unprecedented number of hotels for asylum seekers, including in Glasgow.

“The use of hotels is unacceptable and we are working hard to find appropriate accommodation for asylum seekers, but local authorities must do all they can to help house people permanently.

“Since this horrific incident we have undertaken a number of significant changes to keep asylum seekers safe, including how we, our contractors and charities spot vulnerable individuals and provide them with wraparound support and appropriate accommodation.

“The Home Office has completed the majority of recommendations in the review which found that hotels in Glasgow were of a good standard, clean and well-maintained.

“Our New Plan for Immigration, which is going through Parliament now, will fix the broken asylum system, enabling us to grant protection to those entitled to it and to remove those with no right to be here more quickly.”

Additional reporting by Press Association