New police unit to challenge 'predators' targeting women in London bars
In an attempt to crack down on predatory behaviour at night, officers are being deployed at party hotspots in the hope to reduce the number of assaults, spikings and worse.
It comes as the UK is seeing an 'epidemic' of violence against women and girls, with the number of number of rapes and sexual assaults have increased from 34,000 to 123,000 across the country in 2023-2024.
Chinese PhD student Zhenhao Zhou was jailed for life for drugging and raping women at parties in London, with police believing he could have attacked more than 50 women.
Craig France, 34, was jailed for 10 years in March after he was found to have lured young women to 'afterparties' at his house where he would subject them to sex attacks while they were 'completely out of it'.
And it's not just sexual crimes. In March, men 'armed with machetes' tried to storm Mayfair nightclub Tabu after they were denied entry.
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
Even celebrities have been accused of bringing violence to London's nightclub scene, with Chris Brown in court last week charged with 'attempting to cause grievous bodily harm with intent'.
The announcement of the new specialised patrols came alongside the government's £53 million pledge to target dangerous offenders.
Domestic abuse perpetrators who are deemed to pose the highest risk 'will be forced to change their behaviour' according to the Home Office.
This includes 'intensive' one-to-one case management for up to a year, and protections orders to keep offenders away from those they hurt. More Trending
The scheme – which first began to be piloted in 2016 – reportedly saw physical abuse cut by 82% and sexual abuse down by 88%.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: 'The roll out of these new programmes means the relentless pursuit of perpetrators who pose a risk to women and girls whether they operate at home or on the streets – and intervening early to prevent further harm.
'Through our mission to make our streets safer, we will take every opportunity to challenge and change dangerous behaviours, intensively monitor and manage perpetrators who pose a risk, and give victims the support they need to take back their lives.'
In March, Westminster Council began requiring all new licensed venues to assess risks to women's safety.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
MORE: Boy, 15, admits to throwing chair over Stratford Westfield balcony
MORE: Iconic London attraction will close for years during £60,000,000 upgrade
MORE: 'Elegant' UK seaside town gets new direct train to London after it was axed five years ago
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Metro
6 hours ago
- Metro
Riot police smash through blockade as protesters clash over migrant hotel
Tensions are flaring again outside of a migrant hotel in Essex. Protesters have caused damage to police vehicles. Videos are circulating of protesters, many draped in the English flag, jumping on police vans driving towards the centre of the unrest. Some witnesses have said he was run over by the car, but the circumstances are unclear. Metro has contacted Essex Police. Most of the demonstrations earlier in the day were peaceful, but riot police were called after men, some of whom were masked, threw bottles, eggs and flour at anti-racism counter-protesters. Chaos unfolded again when the riot police entered the area, blocked by many of the locals protesting against the hotel, where a migrant who is facing multiple sexual assault charges on a child had been staying. Ethiopian man Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, 38, has been charged with three counts of sexual assault, one count of inciting a girl to engage in sexual activity, and one count of harassment without violence. Kebatu lives at the hotel and has since been remanded in custody after his hearing last week, but denies any wrongdoing. On Sunday, a group showed up to protest, and some men launched an attack on two hotel workers who had just got off the bus to begin their shift, mistaking them for hotel residents. Chief Superintendent Simon Anslow said: 'Disruption and offending is never an appropriate response, no matter the strength of feeling in this case, and on this issue. 'People protesting peacefully, lawfully and responsibly cause us – and the wider public – no concern. 'However, we can never and will never tolerate criminal violence of any sort, and anyone identified as committing a crime will be dealt with robustly.' One Epping resident said of the protests: 'There is a very vocal hardcore local group. 'Most people would rather it [the hotel] was not there, that it was back as a hotel, but it is what it is, and maybe there's a case for new arrivals to be kept somewhere more secure and be checked.' More Trending The Bell Hotel declined to comment on the matter to Metro. Local community leaders are still raising concerns about the hotel. Chris Whitbread, the leader of Epping Forest District Council, said they warned the Home Office that the site was 'entirely inappropriate'. 'Placing vulnerable individuals from a wide range of cultural backgrounds into an unsupervised setting, in the centre of a small town, without the proper infrastructure, support or services, is both reckless and unacceptable,' he said. 'It puts pressure on local services, causes understandable concern for residents, and is unfair on those placed in the hotel. The Home Office must now face the reality of the situation.' Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page.
Scottish Sun
6 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
Hundreds of asylum seekers living in tax-funded hotels have been charged with crimes such as rape, robbery & GBH
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) HUNDREDS of asylum seekers living in taxpayer-funded hotels have appeared in court charged with criminal offences including rape, robbery and GBH, a Sun investigation has found. Court records show at least one in every 100 migrants housed in them has been hauled before magistrates this year — totalling 339 cases. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 6 French authorities were pictured handing life jackets to illegal migrants in a Channel dinghy - rather than returning them to France Credit: PA 6 A crowd gather to protest outside a migrant hotel in Epping, Essex Credit: SelwynPics 6 Sir Keir Starmer has secured a pledge from German Chancellor Friedrich Merz to crack down on smugglers' boat storage sites Credit: PA It is the first time the scale of criminal activity committed by those living in the controversial hotels has been brought to light. We monitored courts across the country for the first six months of the year and noted defendants who gave their address as one of 105 known asylum hotels. The true number of crimes could be even higher as the Home Office has refused to publish a list of all 210 in the UK currently being used to house 32,000 asylum seekers. Of the court cases we monitored, 29 related to sexual crimes — including seven alleged rapes, one proven incident of exposure and one of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child. READ MORE ON MIGRANT CRISIS HELPING HAND French officials hand migrants life-jackets as more allowed to set sail for UK A further 64 violence-related offences were recorded, including common assault, GBH, ABH, possessing a knife and possessing an imitation firearm. Yesterday at least five asylum seekers who had been staying at hotels appeared in court on charges including sexual assault, assault by beating and theft. An Ethiopian migrant accused of trying to kiss a 14-year-old schoolgirl eight days after arriving in the UK on a small boat was remanded in custody at Chelmsford magistrates' court. And a Libyan asylum-seeker living at a Home Office hotel yesterday admitted threatening a member of staff with a knife, at Bournemouth crown court. The cases amount to a small percentage of all those heard by magistrates — with figures showing that 1.37 million defendants appear before JPs every year in the UK. And The Sun's analysis shows that migrant hotel residents are around half as likely to appear at a magistrates' court compared to the general population. French coastguard hands life-jackets to boat packed with migrants as yet another dinghy is allowed to set sail for UK Figures show that about two per cent of the UK population appear as defendants every year, compared with one per cent for those at the 105 hotels analysed. But Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp accused the Government of putting women and girls at risk by losing control of our borders. He said: 'This shocking Sun investigation lays bare the risk posed by these illegal immigrants. 'Women are being raped and sexually assaulted and even police officers attacked. We know that the nationalities crossing the Channel are 24 times more likely to wind up in prison than average. 'Yvette Cooper has let in the highest-ever number of illegal immigrants so far this year and has lost control of our borders. 'Women and girls are at risk as a result. I'm sick of the crime being committed by illegal immigrants coming from France. We just need to deport them all immediately upon arrival, whether to Rwanda or elsewhere.' The Thistle City Hotel Barbican, in central London — highlighted as a hub for people working illegally as food delivery drivers — has had 32 men up in court for offences including assault of an emergency worker and theft from a shop. Mr Philp said: 'I've visited the Thistle Barbican to expose the illegal working there. "The security guard was more interested in throwing me out than stopping the illegal working or rampant criminality.' More than 50 court cases we observed were related to thefts, including from high-end shops and convenience shops, and phone snatching. Bag thief Hocine Bouguroua, 34, who targeted punters in busy pubs in the city of London, was jailed for 24 weeks in May. He had been living at the Thistle, which has the highest number of defendants out of the hotels we monitored. A teenager whose address was given as the Thistle was jailed for four months after he stole £40,000 from a greengrocer in Tooting, South London. 6 Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp accused the Government of putting women and girls at risk by losing control of our borders Credit: Alamy Another man at the hotel got a four-month suspended sentence in March after being found guilty of arson with intent to endanger life, possessing an offensive weapon, and assault by beating. There were 21 men up in court who listed their address as the ibis Stevenage, a large asylum hotel in the Hertfordshire town. Another 14 cases were listed from the Holiday Inn Luton South, including one alleged sexual assault The Home Office: 'While The Sun's analysis covers only one in 2,000 of the cases that go to court in our country, there is no excuse for people who abuse our country's hospitality and commit crimes after arriving here.' Yesterday Sir Keir Starmer met German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who agreed to change the law so that the authorities there can investigate and act against storage facilities used by smugglers to conceal small boats. The PM said: 'Engines and component parts of the boats that are being used are travelling through and being stored in Germany. "But they can't be seized because the law didn't accommodate for a country that had left the EU and therefore needed to be amended.' Additional reporting by Tom Seaward, Rob Pattinson, Thomas Godfrey and Alex West FIVE CASES IN OUR COURTS ON THURSDAY EPPING, ESSEX AN asylum seeker tried to kiss a girl in a town centre eight days after arriving on a small boat, a court heard yesterday. Ethiopian Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, 38, is also accused of telling the 14-year-old that he wanted to 'make Jamaican babies' with her. He was arrested the next day after allegedly trying to kiss the same girl again. Chelmsford JPs heard the incidents allegedly happened last week in Epping, Essex. Kebatu was staying at a migrant hotel in the town. He denies sexual assault and harassment. He was remanded and faces trial on August 26. BOURNEMOUTH A LIBYAN asylum seeker living at a Home Office hotel yesterday admitted using a knife to threaten a member of staff. Ibrahim Zouari, 34, drew the weapon during a disturbance in Bournemouth in April last year, the town's crown court heard. He admitted unlawfully and intentionally threatening the victim with a bladed article. But Zouari, through an interpreter, pleaded not guilty to assault by beating against the victim. The court heard that the prosecution will offer no evidence for this charge. Zouari was remanded in custody to be sentenced at the same court on September 5. OXFORD 6 Migrant Mohamed Monim, 55, 'lashed out' at his partner in a taxpayer-funded hotel in Oxford, court hears Credit: Steve Shephard A HOTEL migrant lashed out at his partner after a Christmas Eve argument turned into a 'physical altercation', a court heard. Mohamed Monim, 55, allegedly attacked her in a taxpayer-funded hotel in Oxford last year. The city's magistrates' court heard he was nicked after a security worker intervened to break up the dispute. Monim denied assault and faces trial at the same court on November 21. EAST LONDON ANOTHER hotel migrant admitted theft and fraud offences in four different towns and cities. Hamza Esguioui, 28, snatched bags in Bishop's Stortford, Herts, and in London. Esguioui, living at a migrant hotel in East London, also used stolen bank cards in the capital and Canterbury, Kent, and stole goods worth £300 from a Tesco in Dover. Magistrates remanded him in custody ahead of sentencing. NORTH LONDON 6 Asylum seeker Meludi Mikautdzee, 33, stole from a Co-op in North London, claiming he was left starving on his taxpayer-funded allowance Credit: Gary Stone ONE asylum hotel resident claimed he stole food from a Co-op store because he was going hungry on his taxpayer-funded allowance. Meludi Mikautdzee, 33, piled products into his rucksack at the supermarket in Islington, North London, on June 26. The Georgian pleaded guilty yesterday at Highbury Corner magistrates court. He was released on a six-month conditional discharge. FRANCE GIVE OUT LIFE VESTS By Ed Southgate FRENCH authorities yesterday handed life jackets to migrants in a dinghy instead of trying to bring them back to shore. More than 20 migrants packed into a small boat before officials sailed up and handed out the vests. This month French cops slashed a boat as migrants tried to set off. A BBC crew was filming. French officers have been criticised for failing to get involved with boats already in the water, which they say is dangerous and legally complex.
Times
6 hours ago
- Times
Home Office boss paid over £455,000 despite record boat migrants
The top official in the Home Office was given a total pay packet of nearly half a million pounds including a tax-free 'golden goodbye' of £30,000 when he left the department in March. Overall, senior civil servants in the department received bonuses totalling between £80,000 and £120,000 in the last financial year, a period in which a record number of migrants arrived in small boats. They included Martin Hewitt, border security commander, appointed by Sir Keir Starmer to head his new unit in charge of the government's efforts to tackle the Channel migrant crisis, who was paid a salary of between £200,000 and £205,000. Joanna Rowland, who oversees the accommodation of asylum seekers, was paid a bonus of between £15,000 and £20,000, in addition to a salary of up to £170,000. Details of the pay packets of senior Home Office mandarins were disclosed in the department's annual report, published on Thursday, which set out the remuneration of senior officials in £5,000 brackets for the 2024/25 financial year. In the same period a total of 38,177 migrants crossed the Channel, according to Home Office figures, a 24 per cent rise on the 30,878 who arrived the year before. • On the trail of gangsters who get rich smuggling migrants to Britain On Thursday there were chaotic scenes on French beaches as dozens of migrants were seen sprinting into the water to scramble onto dinghies off Gravelines beach. No police were seen on the beach but a French rescue boat was observed passing life jackets to migrants on board one dinghy at sea. They were later seen retrieving the life jackets moments before a Border Force vessel picked up the migrants once it had passed into UK waters. As of March 31, there were 32,345 asylum seekers in hotels, up from 29,585 in June last year, and an additional 71,339 in other taxpayer-funded accommodation such as bedsits and multiple-residence properties. Sir Matthew Rycroft, who left his role as Home Office permanent secretary on March 28, received an overall remuneration package of between £455,000 and £460,000. This included his £200,000 annual salary after a 24 per cent pay rise on the previous year. He was given a £50,000 'exit payment,' of which £30,000 was tax-free. This was on top of a performance-related bonus of between £20,000 and £25,000, more than double the bonus he received the previous year. Rycroft, who served as the top mandarin at the Home Office for five years following stints at the Department for International Development and as Britain's representative at the United Nations and ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina, also received £179,000 in pension benefits over the 2024/25 financial year. Other officials to be given large performance-related bonuses included Chloe Squires, director-general of homeland security, who was awarded £15,000-£20,000; Rebecca Ellis, the strategy director of the Home Office, and Robert Hall, the director of communications, who received £10,000-£15,000. Philip Douglas, the head of Border Force, was the only senior official to see a reduction in his performance-related bonus, which fell from £15,000-£20,000 in 2023/24 to £10,000-£15,000 in 2024/25. The Home Office annual report said that bonuses were paid on 'performance levels attained' and were made as part of the appraisal process. The Home Office did not respond for a request for comment. Rycroft has been approached for comment.
