Face of the Day

Mohammed Abdiwali sexually violated women in 2014 and 2020. Now in and out of jail because of repeatedly breaching his release conditions, he has nowhere permanent to live so sleeps either on the streets or with meth-addicted friends, risking, he says, relapsing into his own addiction. “I’m meant to be a monster and I’m f…ing roaming around,” he tells journalist Paula Penfold, of his desperation to get control of his life in a system he says is failing him.

At the end of October, on his first night out of custody, Mohammed Abdiwali slept at Wellington train station.

Perhaps surprisingly, given I’d reported he was dangerous, he got in touch because he wanted to “highlight what is going on in my life”.

“Here I am today, I literally have nothing. Nowhere to go.

“And last night was pretty hard and rough. I could have gone to places that I know, for shelter, but the thing is those people, they use meth, and I don’t want to smoke.”

It’s a complex situation and a complex story to tell. After all, Abdiwali sexually violated two different women in 2014 and 2020. His is hardly a sympathetic case.

Stuff