A Palestinian asylum seeker who became enslaved by a drug dealing gang has been jailed for assaulting a police officer in Aylesbury.

Almotosembelah Anani came to the UK aged 15 from the Hebron province of the middle eastern country, where he had faced a “number of difficult circumstances” the court heard.

On June 29 last year, aged 20, Anani was spotted dealing heroin and cocaine in Vale Park in Aylesbury, Bucks.

Helen Douglass-Dixon, prosecuting, told how police officers had approached the defendant in a chicken shop on Mill Street.

Ms Douglass-Dixon said: “He thought he was being detained and said words to the effect of ‘what do you mean bro’ and pushed officer Pc Fenton in order to make off.

“The officer kept hold of his jumper and they were pushing and pulling against each other. Mr Anani managed to get out of his t-shirt to get away.”

Anani was later arrested in the town, where he was found to have cannabis on his person. It was also discovered he had been driving an e-scooter without a licence or insurance.

The defendant went on trial in February accused of being involved in the supply of class A drugs, but he was acquitted by a jury, who heard he was a victim of modern slavery.

Anani, now aged 21 and of no fixed abode, had admitted assaulting an emergency worker, possession of a class B drug and driving a motor vehicle without a licence or insurance. 


He appeared at Aylesbury Crown Court by video link from HMP Bristol on Friday for sentencing.

Ms Douglass-Dixon told how he had four previous convictions for five offences, including possession of a class B drug in September 2022 for which he received a six-month conditional discharge.

Ben Brown, defending, revealed there was no suggestion of any lasting effects to the officer who Anani had assaulted.

Anani had been on bail, the court heard, but had been remanded on custody after breaching his bail conditions, he said because men who he owed a drug debt too had attacked him at his sister-in-law’s home and burned her car.

Recorder Timothy Nutley, sentencing, sentenced Anani to four months imprisonment, which meant effectively he would be released immediately due to time spent on remand, plus six points on his driving licence. 

The judge said: “It must be that the jury considered you were or may have been subjected to threats and/or violence. 

“So strong was the hold that the gang controlling drug supply had over you that, despite living in Watford at the time, you came back to Aylesbury.”

Recorder Nutley added that Anani was “a refugee whose asylum claim has not yet been determined”, but pointed out he had a social worker who was assisting him.