An asylum seeker who left a young woman in a 'crumpled bloody mess' after knocking her unconscious outside a nightclub has been jailed for six months.

Abdoela Berhan punched 20-year-old Cleo Lake 'full force' in the face in the early hours of December 7, 2024, when she and her friends rejected his advances.

He was found guilty of assaulting Miss Lake at the Cameo nightclub in Bournemouth just a week after being convicted of attacking a Subway worker in a separate incident.

The Eritrean national, 35, maintained his innocence throughout the trial - claiming to have acted in self-defence, despite CCTV footage recording the attack.

Berhan has now been jailed for six months - prompting Miss Lake's mother, Helen O'Brien, to call him a 'disgusting human being'.

Ms O'Brien said: 'Six months doesn't seem long enough.

'The impact of leaving Cleo in a crumpled bloody mess in that alley has lasted more than six months for us.

'I still cry when I think about that CCTV showing what he did to her and Cleo is still not the happy carefree girl she once was.

Eritrean national Abdoela Berhan, 35, evaded police for 10 weeks despite being wanted on three arrest warrants. He was finally arrested on July 2 after visiting a police station

Cleo Lake was 20 when she was knocked out with a single punch outside a Bournemouth nightclub on November 30, 2024 after she rejected Berhan's advances

A court previously heard Berhan began swearing and getting into Miss Lake's personal space, prompting her to push him away. He responded by punching her in the face, knocking her unconscious with a single blow (pictured, CCTV of the incident)

'The cheek of him to still deny it when it's there in black and white just goes to show what a disgusting human being he is. He's clearly not remorseful at all.

'I hope his time in prison teaches him a hard lesson. I just wish he would have got more time. He'll probably be out earlier than six months.'

Southampton Magistrates' Court heard Berhan, a failed asylum seeker, was staying at a taxpayer-funded migrant hotel in Bournemouth, Dorset, at the time of the attack.

Miss Lake and two friends had just left the Cameo nightclub when Berhan made advances towards them.

The CCTV footage showed him throw a swinging punch at Miss Lake, striking her to the side of the head.

The assault happened just a week after he had spat at and kicked Subway worker Sahjan Chowdhury in a drunken late night incident.

Speaking through a Tigrinyan interpreter, Berhan claimed Miss Lake had tried to intimidate him.

He said: 'There were three girls, I approached them and asked them to give me a lighter. The one who was standing said "f**k off" and tried to intimidate me. I was defending myself by my elbows.

Miss Lake sustained a black eye and a broken nose from the attack (pictured)

The Britannia Hotel, one of three hotels housing asylum seekers in Bournemouth, has been dubbed Britain's 'most dangerous asylum hotel'

'It was not my intention to attack her.'

But District Judge Orla Austin said she did not believe Berhan and handed him the maximum sentence possible for assault.

She said: 'You made advances to Miss Lake, which were rejected. She was entitled to reject your advances. She was a young woman.

'Your reaction was to punch her with significant force to the face. That blow rendered her unconscious, left her bleeding in the street and required the ambulance to attend.

'I'm satisfied a high level of violence was used against her. Though you say you were in some way defending yourself, the footage clearly shows otherwise.

'You denied all offences and put Miss Lake through a trial.

'In my judgment this is an exceptional case. There was very serious violence against a young woman who had simply rejected your advances.'

Judge Austin said that because Berhan was a failed asylum seeker she would not make any compensation orders as he has no recourse to public funds.

Following the sentence, Miss Lake said: 'I appreciate the judge giving him the maximum she could and I feel relieved he's finally been sentenced.'

Berhan had failed to turn up in court for both of his trials for the assaults on Cleo and Mr Chowdhury.

There were further alcohol-fuelled incidents in February when he was arrested after causing a nuisance to nightclub staff and refused to leave when asked to by police and smashed a window in his room at the Britannia Hotel, where the Home Office has been housing asylum seekers.

He was believed to be on the run and three separate warrants were made for his arrest.

Berhan handed himself into police ten weeks after the first warrant was issued when he turned up for a court date and found the building closed for repairs.

The court heard he had been moved to another asylum hotel 138 miles away in Warwick in January and claimed he was not aware of the other court dates.