The Essex town hit by divisive protests over asylum seekers hotel
'Not what you'd expect'
Geoff Morris, 55, owns a cafe in Epping and is concerned about the violence of the recent protests."It's a bit over the top - it's more directed at the refugees than anything else, which is a shame really," he said.He said Epping was "quite a chilled, upmarket town - it's not what you would expect really". He added: "I'm worried the violence is going to get out of hand - it's mindless violence really."
'Enough's enough'
Barbara Frost, 65, a part-time administrator, and her husband Steve Frost 63, a company director, who attended Sunday's protest, said they understood the reasons behind the gatherings.Mr Frost said: "People have had enough."However, he made it clear he "does not condone violence". "It's totally out of order," he said. At Sunday's protest he said there was "an element from outside Epping wearing masks and some of them came in waiting to cause trouble".Mrs Frost said: "I don't condone violence but I agree, enough's enough - when we moved to Epping, it was considered a nice area."
'Shouldn't have happened'
Pauline Ashton, 77, a retired magistrate and former Epping resident, said while she was not against protests, she did have issues with the violence in the town."I don't like that - I think it's a little bit over the top and I'm not happy about the situation," she said.She said she blamed the "anti-immigrant activists" and believed people were being brought in from "outside Epping"."Clearly people aren't happy with the number of refugees that are coming and going," she said.
'So much division and hatred'
Kerry Gilroy, a 53-year-old finance manager, said: "It's been quite upsetting... seeing how divisive it's made everything."It's a really uncomfortable feeling that there is so much division and hatred around at the moment. It doesn't feel good."She said she was not sure where to "lay the blame" and had "read a lot about why people are turning up and what they think".Ms Gilroy believes the situation has been caused by successive governments and this has been "a lightning rod about how people are feeling about the cost of living crisis". "I blame all of that - I don't necessarily blame the people [turning up at the hotel]. "It's not for me to blame. I don't agree, but I understand the anger and frustration."
The costs of policing
Essex Police has revealed the costs involved in policing the protests since Thursday night."The cost of policing criminal incidents in Epping over the last week has reached £100,000 - money which we would much rather spend on continuing to cut crime across Essex and keeping our neighbourhoods safe," the force said.Ch Supt Simon Anslow added: "What we have seen in Epping over the last week is not protest, it's hooliganism and the people responsible for it can expect to be held accountable."To those who seek to use social media to peddle untruths and lies about the incidents in Epping on Thursday and Sunday, you won't win."
Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
3 minutes ago
- The Independent
Defendant who dumped soiled adult nappies outside nurseries avoids immediate jail term
A defendant who dumped soiled adult nappies and climbed into bins outside children's nurseries has avoided an immediate jail term after being repeatedly assaulted while on remand. Abbi Taylor smeared excrement on milk bottles and the fire escape of one nursery during a 'bizarre' series of incidents. A court has heard the 46-year-old identifies as a woman, but is being held at a men's prison and was referred to with both male and female pronouns during a sentencing hearing on Friday. Taylor was sentenced to two years in prison, which was suspended for two years after the judge heard about her 'particularly difficult time' in custody. The defendant, from South Shields, pleaded guilty to three counts of dumping bags of toxic materials – nappies containing human waste – at nurseries in South Tyneside. Taylor also admitted stealing clinical waste bags from one of the businesses and breaching a criminal behaviour order previously imposed by Nottinghamshire Magistrates' Court by being within 10 metres of a nursery without a reasonable excuse. After a previous sentencing hearing in April was adjourned, Newcastle Crown Court heard Taylor had been remanded in custody for almost three months after pleading guilty to three further breaches of a criminal behaviour order. Jane Foley, prosecuting, said staff at a nursery in Cleadon noticed nappies 'much larger than the ones they used' were being dumped on the premises 'on a fortnightly basis' and in May 2023, a female member of staff saw Taylor climbing out of one of the bins and running off. The manager at a South Shields nursery which suffered similar incidents reported seeing someone 'rooting around inside' one of the clinical waste bins in January 2023, the court heard. Another nursery in Jarrow had up to 50 nappies strewn around the car park and excrement smeared on children's milk bottles and the fire escape, with staff eventually refusing to open up in the morning, Ms Foley said. In April 2023, Nottinghamshire Magistrates imposed a three-year criminal behaviour order preventing Taylor from going within 100m of nurseries after she was convicted of causing harassment, alarm or distress at a nursery after being seen climbing out of a nappy bin wearing a large adult nappy over her trousers. Taylor was interviewed after that incident and admitted to going into a bin 'to sleep and find comfort'. The court was told of similar previous incidents going back to 2014. Ms Foley said in June this year Taylor admitted three breaches of a criminal behaviour order with bin-related incidents. In one incident, on September 25 last year, an outraged resident at a block of flats filmed Taylor standing inside one of the communal bins, hurriedly pulling up her trousers as she climbed out of the bin and ran off after being confronted. The court was told Taylor's Facebook profile referred to being an 'adult baby diaper lover'. Nick Lane, defending, said Taylor 'has had a particularly difficult time in custody' and 'been subject to a number of physical assaults'. The court heard a mental health report had concluded Taylor does not suffer from any diagnosable acute mental health condition. The defendant had 'awful personal circumstances and upbringing,' it was said. The judge, Recorder Richard Herrmann, said: 'This is a highly unusual and highly troubling set of offences, made all the more troubling by your failure to properly and fully explain the motivation behind your bizarre offending.' He said he would suspend the two-year prison sentence for two years after hearing about Taylor's time in custody, saying: 'I know that you know what to expect if you breach this order in any way.' Taylor, who will have a GPS monitoring tag, was also ordered to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work and 40 days of rehabilitation activity. A spokesperson for South Tyneside Council said: 'This was an unusual, complex and disturbing case which has been brought before the courts thanks to the hard work and persistence of our environmental enforcement and legal teams. 'We would like to commend the courage of nursery staff in safeguarding the children in their care, as well as for the assistance provided to our investigation. 'The offending has caused serious stress, disturbance and inconvenience to parents, staff, children and the public and we are satisfied that our investigation has resulted in the person responsible being convicted of appropriate criminality.'
The Sun
3 minutes ago
- The Sun
Britain must avoid ‘very dark path' of silencing free speech, warns Trump's No2 JD Vance as he meets with David Lammy
BRITAIN must avoid the "very dark path" of silencing free speech, JD Vance urged today. The US Vice President warned the West has grown "a little too comfortable with censoring" during a press conference with Foreign Secretary David Lammy. 5 5 The Veep said: "I think the entire collective West, the transatlantic relationship, our Nato allies, certainly the United States under the Biden administration, got a little too comfortable with censoring rather than engaging with a diverse array of opinions." Mr Vance has previously slammed Britain for enforcing some of the toughest restrictions on free speech globally. In February, during a televised meeting between Sir Keir Starmer and Donald Trump in the Oval Office, the Vice President flagged that "infringements on free speech" are now impacting not only Brits but also American tech firms, "and by extension American citizens". Vance's latest tirade comes after the UK launched a divisive new Online Safety Act which targets children's social media usage. Striking a more measured tone this time, Mr Vance explained: "The thing that I'd say to the people of England or to anybody else, to David, is many of the things that I worry most about were happening in the United States from 2020 to 2024. "I just don't want other countries to follow us down what I think was a very dark path under the Biden administration." When asked by Mr Vance if he had anything to add, Mr Lammy remained silent. The Vice President and his family are spending two days with Mr Lammy at Chevening before heading to the Cotswolds for a summer break. During their bilateral talks, the duo tackled issues including the conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine, as well as advancements in technology. Highlighting their ideological differences, Mr Lammy reflected on the "joy of living in a democracy like ours," where debate thrives despite opposing views. VANCE ONSLAUGHT Trump's No2 blasts UK over free speech & attacks Europe on immigration He said: "But, you know, there are areas where there are actually joint concern, we both have a joint concern about outcomes for working people, that is the truth of it. "And we have also discussed issues like irregular and illegal migration and how we deal with those issues. "So there are commonalities and there are differences and that is the joy of living in democracies like ours." Vance is expected to make the short trip across to Scotland next week. The visit from the latest high-profile American politician comes shortly after Donald Trump's five-day trip to Turnberry and Aberdeenshire, where he opened the new 18 holes at his golf course at Trump International in Menie. Mr Trump met with the First Minister, the Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, and played several rounds of golf during his visit. 5 5
BBC News
3 minutes ago
- BBC News
Michael O'Brien: Wrongly jailed man loses appeal for prison stay refund
A man wrongly convicted of murder has lost a legal challenge to reclaim money he was charged for bed and board during the 11 years he spent behind O'Brien was one of three men wrongly convicted of the 1987 killing of Cardiff newsagent Phillip Saunders. After his release, Mr O'Brien had £37,500 deducted from his compensation to cover "saved living expenses" while in prison, which he has been campaigning to have a High Court judge has rejected his attempt to bring a judicial review of the deduction, which was made by the Ministry of Justice. An MoJ spokesperson said the deductions were "no longer taken" from victims of miscarriages of justice, but said the change "does not apply retrospectively". Mr O'Brien, 57, described the ruling as a "blow", saying he had hoped to have a hearing in front of judges."Unfortunately that's not the case, and at the moment we cannot take it further because if we do they'll charge us for all the costs," he said, estimating that could cost "over £100,000".He added that he was "very angry" when he heard the O'Brien brought the claim alongside Paul Blackburn, who spent 24 years in prison for a 1978 child murder in north-west England that he did not O'Brien received £692,900 in compensation in 2002, three years after his release, and Mr Blackburn was awarded £1,370,500 in Blackburn had around £100,000 deducted for saved living August 2023, Alex Chalk, then Conservative Justice Secretary, scrapped the policy of taking bed and board deductions from all future followed the high-profile case of Andrew Malkinson who was wrongfully imprisoned for 17 years for rape. Mr O'Brien and Mr Blackburn applied for further compensation following the rule changes, but last year the new Labour government said those who had previously received payouts could not claim back the deductions this week's ruling, Mr Justice Ritchie refused to allow the case to progress, although the pair have a week to found the claimants had not been discriminated against and that "the applications were dealt with and completed long before the time the policy changed". Andrew Taylor, a Cardiff-based barrister, described the ruling as "unfair", comparing the case to the fight for justice by former postmasters caught up in the much-publicised Horizon scandal. He said creating "as much publicity as possible", like those involved in the Horizon scandal, could be an effective next step for Mr O'Brien."He's been a tireless campaigner since his release, and I don't think that this is necessarily the end of the matter," he added."If you have been convicted of a murder that you didn't commit, nobody recovers," he said, adding that the decision was "another kick in the teeth" for Mr O' O'Brien said his options now were to try to get the law changed or take his campaign "onto the streets", adding that he would be lobbying also said his fight for justice had impacted his health, adding that he had post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), comparing it to soldiers who had served in Iraq."That gives you an idea of the damage they've done to me and many other victims of miscarriages of justices," he added.
