Two more men charged over Epping migrant hotel disorder
Charlie Land, 23, has been charged with violent disorder and criminal damage.
Luke Fleming, 21, has been charged with violent disorder.
Protesters outside the former Bell Hotel in Epping (Jordan Pettitt/PA)
Both will appear at Chelmsford Magistrates' Court on Monday.
Nine others have already been charged by the CPS.
Shaun Thompson, 37, is charged with violent disorder and criminal damage; Lee Gower, 43, is charged with violent disorder and assault on an emergency worker; Aaron Elles, 28, Jonathan Glover, 47, Stuart Williams, 36, and Dean Smith, 51, are charged with violent disorder; Keith Silk, 33, is charged with violent disorder and criminal damage; and Phillip Curson, 52, is charged with violent disorder.
Martin Peagram, 33, has been found guilty of violent disorder.
The charges came after weeks of protests outside The Bell Hotel in Epping, which is used to house asylum seekers.
Demonstrations began on July 13 after an asylum seeker was charged with allegedly attempting to kiss a 14-year-old girl.
Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, 38, denies sexual assault and is due to stand trial this month.
Essex Police had recently put dispersal orders in place ahead of some protests, giving officers powers to direct anyone suspected of committing anti-social behaviour to leave the area.
The force has also used Section 60AA orders to prevent people from wearing face coverings.
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BBC News
3 hours ago
- BBC News
What do people in Epping think of the town's migrant hotel?
For weeks now, there have been protests near the Bell Hotel in Epping, which houses single male asylum far this month they have largely been peaceful, but in July some descended into disorder. Riot police were on residential streets; helicopters were whirring over homes at night. Twenty-eight people have been arrested, with police officers injured and vehicles damaged. The protests started after an asylum seeker housed at the hotel was accused of sexually assaulting a teenage girl. He is in custody awaiting further court where Sir Winston Churchill was MP from 1924 to 1945, is at the end of London Underground's Central line. Its bustling High Street has bakeries, hair salons, cafes and on some of the protest days, it has been a ghost town - with many businesses shutting early. One local councillor described Epping as the epicentre of Britain's anti-migrant protests. What do locals make of it? "They shouldn't be there. They should be gone. "They are causing nothing but trouble in the town," said Debbie was pushing her grandson in a pram on a warm said the asylum seekers should be "kept in a camp until they are processed" and suggested a military base like MDP Wethersfield in north Essex - where hundreds are currently being housed - would be Ellis welcomed the protests."I think it should be happening, I've been to a couple. If we don't stand up for our town no-one else is going to," she said."They shouldn't be left in a population where there's little kids running round, shops where they go shoplifting," she added. Several people alleged asylum seekers have been shoplifting. One store manager who did not want to be named said stealing from their shop was an issue, but they had no idea if the culprits were asylum seekers or not. They did not feel thefts were worse in Epping compared to other crime up to June (the current figures) has remained broadly the same in Epping and Ongar over the past 18 months, with between 261 and 365 crimes reported a month. The figure was slightly higher in some months in 2022-23 according to Essex Police's crime statistics. 'Haven't felt unsafe' For Priyam Atter, out and about with her toddler, it was the protests she was concerned about."I've never had any issues with people who I can see are from that hotel. "I certainly haven't felt unsafe by those people, but I certainly have felt unsafe by the riots that happened in this area."I think it is a stain on Epping." Elsabe Coericius was out shopping. She said "if the hotel is the only place where they can stay they should be allowed".She is a Quaker and said: "I believe in peaceful protest. "I think everybody should be able to share their views and opinions."Epping Forest District Council has been seeking an injunction against the owner of the Bell Hotel to stop it being used to house asylum seekers. Ms Coericius described that move as "a disgrace". But others like Sara and Jan Russell, out for a brisk summer walk, supported the council's High Court action."I'm all for it. I've lived here for over 50 years now. We've never seen anything like this."It's not right, nobody likes it," said Jan Russell added: "It's about time these asylum seekers did just go. "We are such a small town - we can't really afford to have that sort of people walking up and down the street." She said she saw the asylum seekers "just dossing around" in the town. They had not been involved in the protests, but they supported said Sara Russell, not "when people are coming off the Central line from the other side of London and are just pretending to be from the local area". "There's a very small percentage of people who are protesters from Epping town," she said she had "nothing against the legal migrants" but when it came to those arriving by boat across the Channel, her answer was to "put them on Ascension island". Social media 'drums drumming' As she strolled past, another resident, Sue Rosso, heard what they were saying and disagreed."There is this major issue that we have in this country with lots of people coming to seek refuge. "Fundamentally, the hotels, whilst not an ideal option is - as I see it - the only temporary option," she the shoplifting accusations, Ms Rosso said: "There's a lot of drums drumming on the social media and a lot of fake news."In my view those incidents are not true."She said she felt the protests should be in Westminster, not Epping, as it was the government who was placing asylum seekers in the are strong views on the Bell Hotel in Epping and it appeared to be dividing opinion."It's turning neighbour against neighbour," Ms Rosso said. "This was a community based town and I hope it will be that again in the future." Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
The Guardian
11 hours ago
- The Guardian
Judge urged to shut down hotel housing asylum seekers in Epping
A high court judge has been asked to shut down a hotel housing asylum seekers amid concerns about violence and disorder seen at far-right protests at the site. The local council applied for an urgent injunction against the owners of the Bell hotel in Epping, Essex, that would immediately prevent them housing asylum seekers – having repeatedly called on the Home Office to close it down. A series of protests have occurred since an asylum seeker was charged with sexual assault against a 14-year-old girl in July. A second asylum seeker has since been charged with sexual assault. During a hearing before Mr Justice Eyre on Friday, Epping district council's lawyer Philip Coppel KC said the site had ceased to be used as a hotel – its 'sole lawful use'. This, he argued, was a 'clear breach' of planning law. He also cited the concerns of local residents, as well as the safety of the asylum seekers themselves among the justifications for an immediate ban. The hotel's owners argued the planning issue was central – and was insufficient to justify the 'exceptional step' of an immediate interim injunction. It could be dealt with via conventional enforcement action or at a final injunction hearing, they argued. Piers Riley-Smith, representing Somani Hotels, argued asylum seekers had been housed at the Bell for about a year and a half without issue – with problems only arising recently. He told the court: 'In reality, this is an injunction by the council against the [recent] protests and the civil unrest. The council has targeted the wrong institution.' Coppel claimed the placement of asylum seekers put the local community at 'enhanced risk'. He said the alleged sexual offences took place close to the hotel – and that there were schools welcoming about 1,800 children in similar proximity. 'Having this sort of thing go on, with such a concentration of schools, with no measures to stop a repetition is not acceptable. That risk is needs to be removed … parents have the well-founded apprehension that the continued placement of asylum seekers at the Bell hotel represents a risk to those students.' Coppel said the asylum seekers themselves were not safe. 'The occupants, some of whom are vulnerable, are being housed in circumstances that can be described as intimidating. It is the last thing they need.' Riley-Smith said his client believed local residents' concerns were genuine. He said: 'It is clear recent protests have expanded far beyond the local community and have gone into concerns about wider ideological or political issues.' He argued that, if there were an urgent need to remove the asylum seekers and return the site to a conventional hotel because of fears about criminality, it would need to be shown the average asylum seeker has a greater propensity to commit crime than the average hotel guest. There was no such evidence, Riley-Smith told the court. Moreover, he said, were protests to be used as a reason to grant an urgent injunction against housing asylum seekers, this could be repeated at any place being used to welcome them across the country. Mr Justice Eyre reserved judgment until next Tuesday and ordered the hotel's owners not to take in any new asylum seekers before then.
The Independent
12 hours ago
- The Independent
Council faces wait for ruling on asylum seekers hotel injunction bid
A council will discover on Tuesday whether it has been successful in a bid to temporarily block asylum seekers from being housed at an Essex hotel. Epping Forest District Council is seeking an interim injunction stopping migrants from being accommodated at the Bell Hotel in Epping, which is owned by Somani Hotels Limited. It comes following a series of protests in recent weeks outside the hotel after an asylum seeker who was housed at the hotel was charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl. At a hearing on Friday, barristers for the council claimed Somani Hotels breached planning rules as the site is not being used for its intended purpose as a hotel, and that the situation 'could not be much worse'. The injunction sought by the authority, if granted, would require the company to stop housing asylum seekers at the hotel within 14 days. Barristers for the company said the 'draconian' move would cause 'hardship' for those inside the hotel, and that 'political views' were not grounds for an injunction to be granted. They also said that contracts to house asylum seekers were a 'financial lifeline' for the hotel, which was only 1% full in August 2022, when it was open to paying customers. At the end of the hearing, Mr Justice Eyre said: 'I am not going to close my notebook and give a decision now. 'I am going to reflect on this, but we need a decision sooner rather than later.' The judge later said that he would give a ruling at 2pm on Tuesday. He also ordered that Somani Hotels could not 'accept any new applications' from asylum seekers to stay at the site until he had ruled on whether to grant the temporary injunction. The hotel has become the focal point of a series of protests after Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, 38, was charged with trying to kiss a teenage girl. Kebatu, who was housed at the hotel at the time of the incident, denies the allegations and is due to stand trial later this month. Opening the hearing in London, Philip Coppel KC, for the council, said the authority had a 'very serious problem' which was 'getting out of hand' and causing 'great anxiety' to residents. He said this had been caused by a 'breach of planning control' by the company, with the site 'no more a hotel than a borstal to a young offender' for asylum seekers. In written submissions, Mr Coppel said there was a 'preponderance of factors overwhelmingly in favour of granting an injunction', which included removing 'the catalyst for violent protests in public places'. Concluding his submissions, Mr Coppel told Mr Justice Eyre that if an injunction was not granted, 'Your Lordship will be telling the residents in Epping: 'You have just got to lump it'.' Piers Riley-Smith, representing Somani Hotels, told the court in written submissions that the alleged planning breach was 'not flagrant' and that it was 'entirely wrong' for the council to 'suggest the use has been hidden from them'. The barrister told the court the hotel previously housed asylum seekers from May 2020 to March 2021, and from October 2022 to April 2024. He also said that while the company did apply for planning permission for a 'temporary change of use' in February 2023, this was a 'pragmatic attempt to address the claimant's concerns, rather than an acceptance that such a use required planning permission'. This application was later withdrawn as it had not been determined by April 2024, the barrister said. Asylum seekers then began being placed in the Bell Hotel again in April 2025, with Mr Riley-Smith stating a planning application was not made 'having taken advice from the Home Office'. In court, he said that while there were genuine concerns among local residents, these had 'expanded' to include 'concerns about wider ideological and political issues from those outside the community'. He continued that these 'particular ideological, non-community concerns are not relevant to planning', and that the concerns of local residents did not 'justify' a temporary injunction.
