A small boat migrant committed sex crime on girls just days after he was given keys to taxpayer-funded house.

Mohammed Abbas, a 29-year-old man who claims to be Palestinian and arrived in Britain by small boat from France in March 2026, has admitted sexual offences against two young girls committed days after he was given the keys to a taxpayer-funded house.

Abbas was held on remand in June after arrests for sexual assault on a female, common assault, assaulting a police officer, and assault by beating. At Coventry Magistrates’ Court on 14 July he received 300 hours of community service and a £100 fine for the assault on the officer. The sexual assault and common assault charges were dismissed after no evidence was offered.

He was then released and placed as the sole occupant of a £250,000 two-bedroom property in Cardiff provided by the Home Office. On 30 July, two days after moving in, he forced his way into a terraced house in the city at around 2am. Two sisters, one under 13 and one under 16, woke to find him exposing himself in their bedroom doorway. Their parents were alerted by the girls’ screams. Abbas also stole a phone and AirPods from the property. The family told The Sun they did not know him and had no idea why their house was targeted.

Neighbours on the estate, where four properties house asylum seekers, said they had already been wary of him. One resident told the paper she kept her daughters indoors when he was drinking outside.

Sources also told The Sun he had previously been abusive towards female staff at an asylum hotel.

At Cardiff Crown Court last month Abbas admitted two counts of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child for the purpose of obtaining sexual gratification, trespass with intent to commit a sexual offence, and burglary. He was remanded in custody and is due to be sentenced next month.

The Home Office said it would seek to deport him at the earliest opportunity. A spokesman stated: “Our thoughts are with the victims of Abbas’ vile crimes.” The department added that removals of foreign national offenders have risen 41 per cent, with nearly 12,000 returned or deported since the current government took office through the end of March. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp described the case as part of a continuing pattern of offences by illegal Channel arrivals and asylum seekers, and called for immediate deportation of small-boat migrants.