Hotel where asylum seeker shot dead after stabbings 'chaotic', inquiry hears

The hotel where a refugee was shot dead after stabbing six people was described as quite chaotic when asylum seekers moved in, a probe heard.

Psychiatric nurse Gregory Higgins made the claim at an inquiry into the death of 28-year-old Badreddin Abdalla Adam Bosh.

Bosh attacked his victims at Glasgow city centre’s Park Inn on June 26, 2020.

Officers had attempted to use non-lethal weapons to disarm Bosh during the incident before he was shot.

The Sudanese national was one of hundreds of refugees moved from flats to hotels at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

This was a move that raised concerns about the mental health of often vulnerable individuals.

Three asylum seekers, two hotel workers and police officer David Whyte – who was a first responder – were injured by Bosh during the attack.

A Fatal Accident Inquiry (FAI) is currently being held at Glasgow Sheriff Court.

Mr Higgins told the hearing that he helped with the housing of refugees in hotels around the time of lockdown.

The witness said: “The Park Inn Hotel was a mixed hotel with quite a lot of vulnerable people put in there, such as pregnant women and people who were trafficked.”

Mr Higgins stated that a £35 per week allowance given to asylum seekers was stopped after they were moved into the hotel.

He added: “The basic things were not there entirely.

“Things were quite chaotic. Some people shouldn’t have been in the hotels.

“Vulnerable people were on the top floor, and some people were moved out for being too vulnerable.”

The witness gave an example that in one hotel, there were three women and 40 men.

He said: “There was no safeguarding in certain areas.”

Mr Higgins later described that some people were “unhappy” with being put in a hotel and did not want to be there.

He said: “It wasn’t possible to move everyone out – it was the most vulnerable that were moved out.”

The witness stated that some people were assessed on an ad-hoc basis.

The inquiry previously heard that Bosh suffered from Covid symptoms.

He was assessed in person in April 2020 by Mr Higgins, who believed that Bosh did not need to isolate in his room anymore, has he was not displaying symptoms.

The inquiry was told around this time, a member of staff at the Mears Group, who were responsible for housing asylum seekers for the Home Office, had reported that Bosh “may have had an issue with a psychological element” to it.

Mr Higgins claimed he was initially unaware of this and did not notice any signs of mental health when he spoke to him the next day.

The witness said: “This happened six weeks before the event. It wasn’t highlighted.”

Mr Higgins recalled being in the hotel on the day of Bosh’s death, where he claimed to have had a conversation with the Mears Group housing manager. No issues with Bosh were brought up.

The inquiry heard that the day before, Bosh had threatened to stab someone.

Mr Higgins claimed that he did not find this out until after the incident.

The witness recalled hearing a fire alarm while in the hotel on the day of the shooting.

He said: “When I got to the ground level, the armed police were coming in the door. It was a bloodbath.”

The inquiry continues before Sheriff Stuart Reid.