Jama Abdullahi ran into the Hamilton Jamia mosque armed with a knife, frightening worshippers. Image / Google maps
A man in a “very agitated state” stormed a mosque while armed with a knife, approaching members who were praying and challenging them to a fight.
Jama Abdullahi, 31, entered the Hamilton Jamia mosque wielding the weapon on July 16 last year.
At the time, about 20 members were inside and many were on their knees praying.
He approached them in a fast and agitated manner and moved frantically around the mosque asking people to fight.
Because he was acting aggressively, members backed away, while one picked up a plastic chair to arm himself.
Police were called and Abdullahi was arrested. He went on to appear in the Hamilton District Court where he was granted bail.
Three months later, while on bail, he was in a fitness centre in the Chartwell Shopping Centre “running laps”.
He then stopped and approached a woman using a machine and punched her in the face before running away.
While the victim had a tooth knocked out, Abdullahi told police he had fainted and could not recall the incident.
However, he went on to plead guilty to the assault, as well as to assaulting a police officer.
The charges involving police came about as they tried to arrest him and he “violently thrashed” his head and body and tried to bite an officer’s arm.
It eventually took five officers to restrain him.
This week, Abdullahi returned to Hamilton District Court where he was sentenced for the mosque incident as well as the later offending.
Members of the mosque community were in court to support him. There were so many that they could not all fit in the courtroom.
Judge Garry Collin noted Abdullahi did not have a pre-sentence report but defence counsel Charles Bean said he had three different mental health reports to work with instead.
The judge told Abdullahi it was “obvious that your life was not easy”.
“Like many others of Somalian descent, you arrived in New Zealand as a refugee.
“There were challenges for you when that occurred.
“Unfortunately at the age of 17, you started using cannabis, becoming a habitual user twice a day.”
He tried to cut down but was unable to.
Judge Collin said it was known there was a common link between cannabis use and the development of mental health issues.
“When people start using cannabis as teenagers they often develop mental health illnesses which they never recover from, sadly. You may well be one of those.”
Since his offending, Abdullahi had been receiving medical assistance and stopped using cannabis and drinking alcohol.
He was instead taking his medication, which Judge Collin told him would be “long-term for his mental health stability”.
A recent report said he presented as coherent without any indication of delusion or hallucination.
“Clearly, you have come a long way since the offending ... you have not been in trouble since,” the judge said.
However, he warned him that should he start drinking or smoking cannabis again, he could become a threat to members of the mosque or the public “without any provocation”.
Taking into account the strides he had made with his recovery, and the support he had, Judge Collin said a rehabilitative sentence was justified.
He sentenced him to 18 months' intensive supervision, which would be judicially monitored, and ordered him not to possess or consume alcohol or drugs.
Belinda Feek is an Open Justice reporter based in Waikato. She has worked at NZME for nine years and has been a journalist for 20.
It comes days after his daughter died following a lengthy battle with cancer.