Feridon Rostami screamed ‘f***ing criminals’ as he launched the barrage at the government office in Westminster in February this year.
But despite being convicted of causing criminal damage and refusing to apologise for his actions, the 32-year-old is staying in Britain because Iran refuses to have him back.
The Iranian’s actions cost £405.37 to clean up from the side of the building after he was arrested at the scene on 2 February.
A security guard reportedly ran for cover as Rostami carried out the protest with £7.29 worth of eggs bought from an off-licence in Shepherd’s Bush.
Prosecutor Les Rowley told Westminster Magistrates’ Court: ‘Mr Rostami has thrown 90 eggs at the building which we say is criminal damage because of the cleaning costs.
‘He was aggravated by how the Home Office dealt with his asylum claim.’
Rostami denied causing criminal damage and using threatening or abusive words and behaviour but was convicted after a trial.
He insisted he had the right to protest at his treatment and thought the rain would wash the egg yokes off the building.
Kathleen Mulhern, defending, said: ‘He’s a man who feels highly aggrieved by his history at the Home Office, his choice of protest he believes was perfectly right in order to highlight his grievances.’
Magistrates rejected Rostami’s defence and handed him a 12-month conditional discharge and ordered him to pay £405.35 compensation to cover the cleaning costs.
Chair of the bench Ronald Smith said: ‘We have heard your own admissions that you did undertake the action alleged of throwing eggs.
‘We don’t consider your actions to be proportionate in the way that you protested so we find the criminal damage charge against you proved.’
Rostami hurled the eggs at this Home Office building in February after he was refused asylum in the UK
He continued: ‘There is no dispute the language used took place. The offence is clearly made out in that the behaviour on that day did amount to threatening abusive or insulting words or behaviour.’
Rostami has been in legal limbo since coming to the UK illegally in 2005 claiming he was under threat of execution by the Iranian regime.
The Iranian Kurd claims his father was killed there in 1991 and he says he is at risk of ‘torture then murder’ because he is a ‘radical atheist’ and part of a threatened ethnic group.
Despite denying his asylum claim, the Home Office have been unable to deport Rostami because Iranian authorities refuse to take him without documents to prove his nationality.
Rostami has previously been detained for refusing to cooperate with the documentation process, but in August 2009 Mr Justice David Foskett ruled he should be released while there is no prospect of sending him back to Iran.
The court heard he now gets by with a weekly £35 voucher from the Home Office that he can use in Tesco or Sainsbury’s.
The court heard it cost the taxpayer £400 to clean up the damage done to the building by Rostami’s eggs
Speaking after his conviction, Rostami said he respected the magistrates’ decision but remains frustrated with the handling of his asylum claim.
‘If I go to Iran I will be tortured then murdered, I’m a radical atheist, I’m an advocate of atheism, a student of Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens as well,’ said Mr Rostami.
‘I’m an Iranian Kurd as well so we always have problems with the regime but the main reason is the Iranian foreign policy which I have always disagreed with, particularly their attitude towards the state of Israel, their misogynist views, their treatment of women, and their disregard and neglect of the disabled.’
Rostami, of Hayes, west London, must pay the compensation within four months.
This migrant provides an illustration of a number of problems.
First, people claim to seek the protection of a Western country, but then behave without humility, or indeed, as in this case, badly. Albeit in a very small way, this man set out to cause disruption and damage to the very government department he was looking to for help.
Secondly, sometimes they seek as much publicity as possible in order to build a better claim for asylum. This can end up in extra policing for the host nation, as migrants often adopt causes and start attending protests along the lines of “I hate my own government,” just to make a claim for asylum.
Thirdly, when a case fails, it becomes impossible to return them to the country of origin. This is often because their own government refuses to acknowledge that a person is one of their nationals. Indeed, it is not uncommon for a person from one country to claim he comes from another country, just because it will give him a better chance of claiming asylum.
The result is that another migrant becomes a permanent fixture, and the demographics of the host country takes another small step away from its own roots. Multiply this by hundreds of thousands or even millions, and the effect becomes dramatic.
The only defense is either to prevent entry in the first place or find somewhere else to put such people.
Europe has little prospect of returning people to their own countries without taking steps that many would consider unpalatable.
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