AN ASYLUM seeker living at a Carlisle hotel told magistrates that he wants to be deported immediately after he was prosecuted for a spate of drink-fuelled offending – including knife possession.

The offences committed by Mortahda Saedi, 24, came to light after a 999 call on September 14 summoned police to the London Road hotel where he was staying, Carlisle's Rickergate court heard.

“The defendant had been carrying on, slamming doors and smashing things in his room,” said prosecutor Andy Travis.

“The officers spoke to Mr Saedi and he calmed down, so they left to resume other duties.”

But half an hour later, shortly before 10.30pm, there was another 999 call from the hotel, with staff reporting that Saedi had “gone on the rampage.”

He had set off three fire extinguishers and was behaving violently. He was also banging on doors and walls and seen chasing staff along corridors as he brandished a fire extinguisher, which he then sprayed over the reception desk.

As staff at the hotel tried to restrain him, he resisted violently and spat at one of them. He also spat at the police officers who arrived on the scene. When later questioned, Saedi said he could not recall what happened.

He blamed what happened on being 'humiliated' when police had searched him earlier in the day as they looked for a stolen mobile phone. Asked whether he had been consuming alcohol, he said he had.

In answer to a further question about how much he drank, he replied: “A lot.”

Mr Travis then outlined the knife offence, saying that it happened on Botchergate at around 5am on August 27. Security staff called police to report that there was a resident at the hotel with a  knife.

Officers spoke to a man who said he had been the victim. A friend of the defendant, the man said he had been with Saedi in Botchergate when the defendant pressed the kitchen knife he had against his stomach.

When interviewed by the police, the defendant said he had found the knife on the ground and he was joking around with his friend. At the time, he said, he was drunk and had been smoking cannabis.

"He said he hadn't pulled the knife on anyone," added Mr Travis.

The man who was allegedly threatened with the knife did not want to support a prosecution. The defendant admitted the knife possession, assaulting a police officer, using threatening behaviour, and criminal damage to the hotel.

Jeff Smith, defending, said the defendant had consumed a “significant amount” of alcohol and would not be allowed to return to the hotel. From the dock of the court, the defendant said he wanted to leave the country.

He said: “I don’t want to stay here – not even for one minute.”

Magistrates said the case was so serious that Saedi should be sentenced by a judge at Carlisle Crown Court. They sent him for a hearing to that court on October 17, remanding him in custody in the meantime.