Latest news with #PhilipCoppelKC
Sky News
4 days ago
- Politics
- Sky News
Battle to prevent The Bell Hotel in Epping from housing asylum seekers reaches High Court
A High Court judge is to decide if a hotel has breached planning rules by becoming a site for migrant accommodation. And the case that could have repercussions for councils across the country where asylum seekers are housed in hotels. Epping Forest District Council wants an interim injunction against The Bell Hotel in the town, which is owned by Somani Hotels, to prevent it being used as migrant accommodation, arguing the premises was not operating as intended as a hotel. Lawyers for the council called it "a very serious problem" and said it was creating "a feeding ground for unrest," stating that there is an "overwhelming case for an injunction". Opening the hearing at the High Court in London on Friday, Philip Coppel KC, for the council, said it was a problem that was "getting out of hand" and "causing great anxiety" to local people. Protests have taken place outside the hotel after two men staying there were charged with sexual offences in separate incidents, including one involving a 14-year-old girl. Mr Coppel said there was "no agreement between [asylum seekers] and the hotel, they do not choose the duration of their stay... they do not choose the type of room". The hotel "is no more a hotel [to asylum seekers] than a borstal to a young offender", he said. Barristers for the hotel group told the court that an injunction would cause asylum seekers "hardship" and that the move would set "a dangerous precedent that protests justify planning injunctions". Piers Riley-Smith, for Somani Hotels Limited, said the company did not argue that residents' concerns "are not genuine", but that they did not justify an interim injunction to stop the use of the hotel. "Those particular ideological, non-community concerns are not relevant to planning," he said. The council had "not shown any evidence" that it had "grappled with the hardship" that would be caused to asylum seekers, the Home Office and the company if a temporary injunction was granted, Mr Riley-Smith said. 50,000 migrants come to UK More than 50,000 migrants have crossed the Channel in small boats since Sir Keir Starmer became prime minister last July. The barrister told the court that what was happening at The Bell Hotel "is occurring in hotels across the country" and that the Home Office has a "statutory duty" to provide temporary emergency accommodation for asylum seekers. During Mr Riley-Smith's submissions, the judge, Mr Justice Eyre said: "I think I can take judicial notice that there has been no diminution of the need for accommodation for asylum seekers." Migrants were housed at the hotel from May 2020 to March 2021, and from October 2022 to April 2024 and the court heard the council never instigated any formal enforcement proceedings against this use. Council 'entirely wrong' In April 2025, they were once again being placed there and Mr Riley-Smith said that a planning application was not made "having taken advice from the Home Office". In written submissions, the barrister said it was "entirely wrong" for the council to "suggest the use has been hidden from them", saying it was "directly approached in February 2025 by the Home Office before the use began and alerted to the upcoming usage". He said an injunction would be a "draconian step," and warned granting one would cause harm. "The main harm would be the loss of accommodation for asylum seekers currently being housed there under the Home Office's statutory duties," he said. Mr Justice Eyre is due to deliver his decision on Tuesday.
BBC News
5 days ago
- Politics
- BBC News
High court decision to be made on Epping asylum hotel injunction
A High Court judge is expected to decide whether to grant a council an injunction to stop migrants being housed in a of people have demonstrated outside The Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, in recent months, protesting against the hotel being used for this Forest District Council has applied for an interim High Court injunction at the Royal Courts of Justice in London and stated there was a "clear risk of further escalating community tensions".Philip Coppel KC, representing the authority, said: "The protests have unfortunately been attended by violence and disorder." A High Court judge was expected to make a decision at the hearing on council lodged the application on Tuesday and asked that it take effect within 14 days in the event it was Coppel added: "Epping Forest District Council comes to this court seeking an injunction because it has a very serious problem." "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," he said. Mr Coppel said that the defendant, Somani Hotels Limited, "did not advise or notify the local planning authority" to seek their views on the use of the site. "It was not until two months later, when Epping Forest received a complaint about the use, that the matter came to the planning department's attention," he has been staged at the hotel since a man living there was charged with sexual assault, harassment and inciting a girl to engage in sexual Kebatu, 41, from Ethiopia, has denied the offences and remains on remand in Home Office previously told the BBC: "It would be inappropriate to comment while legal proceedings are ongoing." Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Telegraph
5 days ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
Unacceptable to have Epping migrant hotel near schools, court told
15 August 2025 11:49am 11:49AM Case against Epping hotel 'overwhelming', court hears The High Court has heard that the case against the Epping hotel is 'overwhelming'. 'Collectively, this is an overwhelming case for an injunction to restrain the breach of planning control that is taking place at the Bell Hotel,' said Philip Coppel KC, for Epping Forest District Council. 'There is nothing on the other side of the balance that goes anywhere to displace that. The defendant has not been upfront with the local planning authority in relation to the use being made of the Bell Hotel, and this goes back a long way. 'The defendant did not advise or notify the local planning authority to seek their views on whether this would be a lawful use in their view. It was not until two months later, when Epping Forest received a complaint about the use, that the matter came to the planning department's attention.' Mr Coppel continued that the change of use by the owner of the Bell Hotel, Somani Hotels Limited, was 'surreptitious' and that there was a 'strength' and 'universality' of feeling against the hotel's current use. 11:44AM Pupils at five schools 'at risk' because of Epping migrant hotel Pupils at five schools within 'easy walking distance' of the Bell Hotel are at risk because migrants are housed there, the council has said. Legal documents submitted by Epping Forest District Council also describe how a residential care home, where many residents have 'dementia, Parkinson's disease, or a range of mental or physical disabilities', is just 300 metres away from the site. Epping St John's School, a Church of England co-educational school with approximately 1,050 students of both sexes between 11 and 18-years-old, is an 11-minute walk from the Bell Hotel, the documents detail. Meanwhile Ivy Chimneys Primary School – attended by 315 boys and girls – is a 13-minute walk from the Bell Hotel. Referring to the five closest schools, Philip Coppel KC, for the council, said: 'The continued placement of asylum seekers at the Bell Hotel represents a risk to those students which is unacceptable.' Mr Coppel added that the 'enhanced risk' results from 'a fundamentally different use of The Bell Hotel from that which is lawful'. 11:40AM Epping hotel is 'feeding ground for unrest', court told The council's barrister has told the High Court that the hotel had become a 'feeding ground for unrest'. In written submissions, Philip Coppel KC said the hotel's closure was necessary for 'restoring the safety of nearby residents' and removing 'the catalyst for violent protests in public places'. 'Allowing the status quo to continue is wholly unacceptable, providing a feeding ground for unrest and protest, a danger to school age students about to start the new school year, a valid source of anxiety for their parents and teachers and disfigurement for the local environment,' he wrote. Speaking in court, Mr Coppel added: 'It is not the asylum seekers who are acting unlawfully. It is the defendant, by allowing the hotel to be used to house asylum seekers.' 11:36AM Housing migrants at hotel 'breaches planning rules' The High Court has heard that housing migrants at the Bell Hotel is a breach of planning rules. Philip Coppel KC, for Epping Forest district council, told the court there had been a 'material change of use' without the appropriate planning permissions being sought. 'The sole lawful planning use of the hotel is a hotel use, but that is not what the Bell Hotel is currently being used for,' he said. 'It is not being used as a hotel; it has been used to place asylum seekers. 'They do not choose to go to the Bell Hotel as a person might choose to patronise a hotel, or stay at a hotel. There is no agreement between them and the hotel, they do not choose the duration of their stay... they do not choose the type of room. 'For them, the Bell Hotel is no more a hotel than a borstal to a young offender.' 11:34AM Asylum hotel is 'very serious problem', court hears Opening the hearing in London, Philip Coppel KC, for the local authority, 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. 'The problem has arisen because of a breach of planning control by the defendant. The defendant owns what is called the Bell Hotel.' 11:33AM Asylum seekers 'should not be housed near schools' The court has heard that the hotel must close because there are schools nearby. Philip Coppel KC, for the authority, argued that sexual assault charges against two of its residents made its closure necessary. He told the court: '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.' Hadush Kebatu, 38, last month appeared in court charged with sexual assault against a 14-year-old girl. On Wednesday, resident Mohammed Sharwarq, 32, appeared in court on sexual assault and common assault charges. 11:31AM Council sues Epping hotel owner to end use for asylum seekers Epping Forest District Council has brought legal action at the High Court against Somani Hotels Limited, the hotel chain which owns The Bell, claiming it should not be used to house migrants. The authority has applied for a temporary injunction to block asylum seekers from being housed at the hotel, which has been the centre of protests in recent weeks.
