PSNI complete investigation after alleged incident at Police Ombudsman's home
A PPS spokeswoman said it had received an investigation file reporting one individual for potential offences of perverting the course of justice and misconduct in public office following the police investigation. "All the available evidence in the investigation file will be carefully considered by a senior public prosecutor and the test for prosecution applied," she added."A decision will issue in due course."All PPS decision-making is independent, impartial and in line with the code for prosecutors."As ombudsman, Mrs Anderson's office oversees investigations into police conduct.She took up the position in 2019 and the fixed term of office is for seven years.
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Daily Mail
18 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Epping migrant hotel is set to CLOSE as council wins legal battle following weeks of anarchy after resident was charged with sexual assault
Migrants are set to be moved out of a controversial asylum hotel after a council was granted a injunction to shut it down. Council leaders won the first stage of their battle to close the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, on planning permission grounds after it became an epicentre of anti-immigration protests, including some which turned violent. The demonstrations were sparked when a migrant living at the hotel was charged with a series of sexual offences, including some against a 14-year-old girl. Epping Forest District Council was today granted a temporary injunction by the High Court in London - with the decision welcomed by jubilant locals. It came after the Home Office unsuccessfully attempted to block the legal challenge, claiming its closure would cause 'acute difficulties' and breach asylum seekers' 'fundamental human rights'. The injunction means the hotel's owner, Somani Hotels Limited, must stop housing asylum seekers at the site by September 12. Ministers will now fear other areas of the country will attempt similar tactics to get unpopular migrant hotels shuttered. Mother Sarah White, 40, one of the protest organisers, said the news was 'amazing'. She said: 'This is great news - it is fantastic. This is not just for Epping but the rest of the country. Hopefully this is the sign of things to come. 'I really do hope they do not put these people in houses of multiple occupancy within our community now. 'That would be a kick in the face and we would fight it. 'But today's news is really positive. Families and women will be able to sleep easier at night knowing they will not be there. 'It's been a disgrace we have had to fight like this.' Sarah said they would be talking to other towns where migrant hotels are. She added: 'We will start protesting with towns up and down the country. We are standing shoulder to shoulder with them as well. 'We want to show this is bigger than Epping, it is impacting the whole country.' Reform leader Nigel Farage added that he hoped Epping council's victory 'provides inspiration to others across the country'. Maureen Chapman, 73, has lived in Epping for 50 years and said she felt 'under threat' by the hotel being there. Today she said: 'This has restored my faith in humanity. It has restored my faith in common sense. Thank God, somebody has actually listened to the people. 'Locals have finally been heard and it feels like it has taken a very long time for that to happen. 'I hope councils up and down the country hear this message loud and clear. These hotels are not wanted and if local people rally around as a community, their voices can be heard.' Admin assistant Sarah Corner, 44, added: 'I am so pleased. Today is a huge day for the people of Epping. It is absolutely amazing. 'I only hope people now don't go through the same hell as we did. 'I was so worried every night. I only live half a mile away from the hotel. 'When there was the news of the alleged sexual assaults, it was horrific. I felt sick. 'We can all now hopefully get on with our lives.' Edward Brown KC, for the Home Office, warned the High Court the move 'runs the risk of acting as an impetus for further violent protests'. It would also 'substantially interfere' with the Home Office's legal duty to avoiding a breach of the asylum seekers' human rights, he said. The barrister added: 'The balance of convenience can never favour a course of conduct that creates a real risk of interfering with fundamental human rights. 'If the injunction is granted by the court, it will substantially impact on the Home Secretary's statutory duties. 'The local authority should in fact have given some consideration to the wider public interest in this application.' He added that the injunction bid 'causes particular acute difficulties at the present date'. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said it was 'good news and a victory for the mums and dads I spoke to in Epping who just want their children to be safe'. She added: 'Putting a hotel full of young male illegal immigrants in the middle of a community like Epping was always going to lead to issues. 'They need to be moved out of the area immediately. 'But Epping is just one of many towns struggling with these asylum hotels. 'Labour have no solution, they're not smashing any gangs and small boat arrivals are at record highs. 'I do have a plan - bring back a proper deterrent and remove all illegal arrivals immediately, so towns like Epping never have to deal with this again.' Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: 'Residents should never have had to fight their own Government just to feel safe in their own town.' He accused Labour of deciding to 'tear up the deterrents the Conservatives put in place', such as the Rwanda asylum scheme. Reform's Mr Farage said: 'This is a victory for the parents and concerned residents of Epping. 'They do not want their young women being assaulted on the streets. 'This community stood up bravely, despite being slandered as far right, and have won. 'They represent the vast majority of decent people in this country. Young, undocumented males who break into the UK illegally should not be free to walk the streets anywhere. 'They must be detained and deported. 'I hope that Epping provides inspiration to others across the country.' Outside the Royal Courts of Justice, Epping council leader Chris Whitbread said: 'This is a decision that's important to Epping Forest, but also important to have councils up and down the country, and it shows that the Government cannot ignore planning rules, just like no-one else can ignore planning rules.' He added: 'This is only the start of a process and subject to appeal, we recognise that, but all things being equal, the Bell Hotel will be empty by September 12, and that's really important for the students, residents, businesses of Epping Forest.' Addressing local residents, he went on: 'If they decide to go outside the Bell Hotel, don't protest, don't over-celebrate. This is the beginning. It is not the end.' The Home Office had not been represented at a previous hearing in the case on Friday. But today the department asked to be allowed to intervene Mr Justice Eyre was due to hand down his ruling on whether the injunction should be granted. Philip Coppel KC, for Epping Forest District Council, said the Home Office's request was 'a thoroughly unprincipled application made in a thoroughly unprincipled way'. He added that the department knew of the injunction bid last week but 'sat on their hands'. It comes after a series of protests in recent weeks outside the hotel. A resident at the hotel, Hadush Kebatu, 41, from Ethiopia, was charged with sexual assault, harassment and inciting a girl to engage in sexual activity. The incidents allegedly happened within two days, just over a week after the 41-year-old arrived in the UK by boat. Raphael Pigott, defending, told a hearing at Colchester magistrates' court on July 17: 'I believe he is here as a refugee or asylum seeker, and that he arrived informally on a boat.' It is alleged Mr Kebatu tried to kiss a schoolgirl as she ate pizza near a busy high street, and the next day attempted to kiss an adult near a fish and chip shop in the town centre, telling her she was 'pretty' while putting his hand on her leg. He then encountered the girl again and tried to kiss her, a court was told. Mr Kebatu has denied the offences and is in custody. A second man who resides at the hotel, Syrian national Mohammed Sharwarq, has separately been charged with seven offences. A series of protests have taken place outside the hotel since the alleged incidents. There was violence outside the premises last month after 'anti-immigration' campaigners clashed with 'anti-racism' demonstrators. Activists brawled in the streets while police battled to contain the chaos. Twenty-eight people have since been arrested in relation to disorder, and 16 of them have been charged. Police chiefs have already described the unrest at The Bell as a 'signal flare' for another summer of disorder. At a hearing on Friday the council told the High Court the housing of asylum seekers at the property was becoming a 'very serious problem' which 'could not be much worse'. Barristers for the council claimed Somani Hotels breached planning rules as the site is not being used for its intended purpose as a hotel, stating there was an 'overwhelming case for an injunction'. Somani Hotels defended the claim with its barristers telling the court in London that a 'draconian' injunction would cause asylum seekers 'hardship'. They added that 'political views' were not grounds for an injunction to be made. They also said that contracts to house asylum seekers were a 'financial lifeline' for the hotel, which was only one per cent full in August 2022, when it was open to paying customers. Opening Friday's hearing Philip Coppel KC, for the council, said: 'Epping Forest District Council comes to this court seeking an injunction because it has a very serious problem. 'It is a problem that is getting out of hand; it is a problem that is causing a great anxiety to those living in the district. 'There has been what can be described as an increase in community tension, the catalyst of which has been the use of the Bell Hotel to place asylum seekers. 'The problem has arisen because of a breach of planning control by the defendant.' He continued that the site 'is no more a hotel than a borstal to a young offender' for asylum seekers and that Somani Hotels had not had 'the courage of conviction to seek a certificate of lawful use', which would have 'resolved the matter in its favour'. Mr Coppel also referenced the alleged sexual assault of the teenage girl, and said several schools were in the nearby area. He said: 'Having this sort of thing go on in such a concentration of schools with no measures in place to stop a repetition is not acceptable. 'It really could not be much worse than this.' Another factor in favour of granting an injunction would be removing a 'catalyst for violent protests in public places'. The barrister added: 'Allowing the status quo to continue is wholly unacceptable, providing a feeding ground for unrest.' Piers Riley-Smith, representing Somani Hotels, said 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 that the hotel previously housed asylum seekers from 2020 to 2021, and from 2022 to 2024, and that the council 'never instigated any formal enforcement proceedings against this use'. He said company applied for planning permission for a 'temporary change of use' in February 2023, but this was later withdrawn as it had not been determined by April 2024. Asylum seekers then began being placed in the Bell Hotel again in April 2025, with Mr Riley-Smith stating that a planning application was not made 'having taken advice from the Home Office'. Addressing the public protests at Epping, the barrister said: 'The court should bear in mind - as recognised by the claimant - that these have spread far beyond locals who might have a genuine concern about their area to a wider group with more strategic national and ideological aims, but that does not necessarily mean the concerns are well-founded. 'Fears as to an increase of crime associated with asylum seekers or a danger to schools are common, but that does not make them well-founded. 'It also sets a dangerous precedent that protests justify planning injunctions.' Mr Justice Eyre refused to give Somani Hotels the green light to challenge his ruling, but the company could still ask the Court of Appeal for the go-ahead to appeal. In his judgment, he said that while the council had not 'definitively established' Somani Hotels had breached planning rules, 'the strength of the claimant's case is such that it weighs in favour' of granting the injunction. He continued that the 'risk of injustice is greater' if a temporary injunction were not granted. A further hearing on whether the injunction should be made permanent is expected to be held at a later date, and is expected to last two days.
Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
Netanyahu has pushed Hamas to the brink of destruction
It's often been said that there is nothing as pathetic – and embarrassing – as British politicians opining about what they want to see happen in the Middle East. The days when we ran the show ended many decades ago, and the idea that anyone in Israel or the rest of the region gives a damn about what some nonentity British MP thinks is risible. But as the past few weeks have shown, it's not quite as simple as that. The reaction by Hamas to the Government's plan to recognise a Palestine state – the same applies to similar announcements by France, Canada and Australia – shows that we nonetheless have the ability to throw a giant spanner in the works. Sir Keir Starmer's statement last month had one immediate effect: it emboldened Hamas and destroyed ceasefire talks that had appeared to be making progress. As Mike Huckabee, the US ambassador to Israel, put it: 'When you have all these European nations saying, 'Israel's not going to have a ceasefire, we're going to go ahead and unilaterally recognise a Palestinian state,' what do you think that did with Hamas? It emboldened them. It empowered them. And that's when negotiations were over right then.' That is the context in which the latest development in the ceasefire talks needs to be seen, with Hamas reportedly agreeing to a joint Egyptian-Qatari proposal for it to release 10 of the remaining living hostages and 18 bodies (there are believed to be 20 still alive, and another 30 or so dead) during a 60-day truce, with further negotiations over a permanent ceasefire. The question being asked is why Hamas has seemingly done a volte-face and agreed to a ceasefire, barely three weeks after walking away from the last round. First, we simply don't know what, if any, pressure is being applied by Qatar, which is the only nation other than Iran that can force Hamas to act as it wants. But we do know that there is even more pressure on Hamas now from another direction: Israel. Benjamin Netanyahu has been pilloried in Britain and elsewhere for his recently announced plan to occupy Gaza City and to widen military action to all of Gaza.
The Independent
2 hours ago
- The Independent
Paul Weller sues former accountants after being dropped over Gaza statements
Musician Paul Weller is suing his former accountants after they stopped working with the singer after public statements alleging Israel was committing genocide in Gaza, according to a legal letter. The former frontman of The Jam has filed a discrimination claim against Harris and Trotter after the firm ended their professional relationship after more than 30 years. In a pre-action letter seen by the PA news agency, lawyers for Weller say the singer-songwriter was told in March that the accountants and tax advisers would no longer work with the 67-year-old or his companies. According to the letter, a WhatsApp message from a partner at the firm included: 'It's well known what your political views are in relation to Israel, the Palestinians and Gaza, but we as a firm are offended at the assertions that Israel is committing any type of genocide. 'Everyone is entitled to their own views, but you are alleging such anti-Israel views that we as a firm with Jewish roots and many Jewish partners are not prepared to work with someone who holds these views.' Lawyers for Weller claim that by ending their services, the firm unlawfully discriminated against the singer's protected philosophical beliefs including that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and that Palestine should be recognised as a nation state. Weller said: 'I've always spoken out against injustice, whether it's apartheid, ethnic cleansing, or genocide. What's happening to the Palestinian people in Gaza is a humanitarian catastrophe. 'I believe they have the right to self-determination, dignity, and protection under international law, and I believe Israel is committing genocide against them. That must be called out. 'Silencing those who speak this truth is not just censorship – it's complicity. 'I'm taking legal action not just for myself, but to help ensure that others are not similarly punished for expressing their beliefs about the rights of the Palestinian people.' Weller will donate any damages he receives to humanitarian relief efforts in Gaza, the legal letter also states. Cormac McDonough, a lawyer at Hodge Jones and Allen, representing Weller, said that his case 'reflects a wider pattern of attempts to silence artists and public figures who speak out in support of Palestinian rights'. Mr McDonough added: 'Within the music industry especially, we are seeing increasing efforts to marginalise those who express solidarity with the people of Gaza.'
