Ex-barge asylum seeker sentenced for sex attack

The Bibby Stockholm barge was moored in Portland Harbour before being decommissioned in 2024

A former resident of a barge used to house asylum seekers has been sentenced to a community order for sexually assaulting a teenage girl on a beach.

Moffat Konofilia, 48, was living on the Bibby Stockholm in Portland Harbour, Dorset, when he assaulted the 17-year-old in nearby Weymouth.

A sentencing hearing at Poole Magistrates' Court was told Konofilia had kissed the girl twice on the lips after they sat down to have a conversation despite her rejecting his advances.

He was handed an 18-month community order, requiring alcohol absence monitoring for 100 days and 60 hours of unpaid work.

Konofilia, who is now in an asylum residence in Coventry, had denied the offence before being found guilty.

He told the court he had been in the UK for three years. Before arriving, he reportedly played football for the Solomon Islands national team.

Prosecuting, Robert Salame told the court he had approached the victim, who was out for a walk, shortly after 18:00 GMT on 15 December 2023 and asked her what there was to do in Weymouth.

The court heard they struck up a conversation and began walking together and Konofilia stopped to buy a vape and two cans of lager for the girl.

'She was saying no'

The girl told police he had seemed friendly but appeared to have been drinking.

They went to sit by the beach, and at some point the girl began recording on her phone and the conversation turned sexual, the court heard.

Mr Salame continued: "At the beach the defendant was drinking from the cans of Stella and offered one to (the girl). She did not drink from it.

"The defendant leaned forward and kissed [her] twice on the lips, she was saying 'no, no, no' as he did this."

She then told him she had to go home and reported the incident to police the next day.

The former footballer told the court he appreciated the UK for looking after him and was thankful to have somewhere to live, and food to eat.

The Bibby Stockholm barge, which had been moored in Portland Harbour, provided accommodation for about 500 male asylum seekers at a time.

It was decommissioned after Labour came to power last year.