Latest news with #communitytension
The Sun
11 hours ago
- Politics
- The Sun
Rape charge against asylum seeker in taxpayer-funded hotel kept quiet to avoid inflaming ‘community tension in cover up'
A RAPE charge against a man staying in an asylum hotel was kept quiet — as officials feared inflaming 'community tension'. There were also two other rape cases where it was not disclosed that the suspects were in taxpayer-funded asylum hotels. Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick said the 'perception of a migrant cover-up' was growing. He went on: 'The illegal small-boat crossings are a national security emergency. "We've seen terrorism, murders and rapes from those who've come here illegally. It's outrageous. 'Women in towns with asylum hotels shouldn't have to live in fear. The authorities must trust the public with the truth and act to protect them.' The rape suspects were all housed in Home Office-funded accommodation in Portsmouth, London and Manchester. At Portsmouth, the alleged rape was followed by a concerted effort to keep secret the suspect's link to an asylum hotel. He was charged with rape and voyeurism after the alleged attack on a woman on June 11. Police confirmed to The Sun he had been at the Royal Beach Hotel in Southsea, used to house asylum seekers. The man appeared at Portsmouth magistrates' court on June 16. He was remanded in custody and is no longer at the hotel. No statement was issued about the case but Portsmouth City Council officials were briefed privately. The Sun understands councillors were warned not to speak about the suspect's housing, with one council officer raising fears about 'community tension' if it was known. Another senior official privately urged Portsmouth Independents Party leader Cllr George Madgwick not to share 'privileged confidential information' after he took to social media to express his frustration. 4 4 Cllr Madgwick said: 'This is precisely why the public don't trust politicians and public bodies: things are hidden that should be disclosed. Anyone involved in any form of cover-up from disclosure to the public should question their role in a publicly funded position.' Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said last night: 'The council officials who hid the truth about these serious allegations should immediately face the sack. "Decent people are getting angrier every day.' Portsmouth City Council effectively admitted it chose not to go public, saying it was informed of the charge ahead of the court hearing but left public statements to police. A spokesman said: 'We knew the Home Office accommodation link would become public knowledge through the court proceedings and, based on events elsewhere in the country, were conscious there may be community tensions related to it.' Girl 'sex ordeal' EXCLUSIVE By Alex Diaz A MIGRANT living at an asylum seeker hotel raped a vulnerable 17-year-old girl, a court heard. Mohammed Akbari, 23, allegedly attacked her in bushes after they arranged to go to a park, having first met at a hospital. The teen felt dizzy after Akbari, from Iran, gave her an alcoholic drink, Uxbridge magistrates' court heard. She allegedly told him to stop the assault, in Harmondsworth, West London, on June 9. He claims she consented to sex. Akbari arrived in the UK last year, claiming he is Christian and at risk in Iran. He is in custody and will return to court on July 18. Two similar cases also saw no public statements issued about the suspects' links to asylum housing. One involved a 27-year-old man staying at a hotel in Kensington, West London. He faces multiple charges over a serious sex attack, including rape and attempted rape. He pleaded not guilty on June 2 and was remanded in custody before a trial in October. In Manchester, a Jordanian with an asylum claim under way was charged with rape while living at a Home Office-contracted hotel. He appeared at Tameside magistrates' court last month and was remanded in custody until a crown court hearing next week. The man, 34, has yet to enter a plea. Meanwhile, an asylum seeker in a hotel in Yorkshire was charged with raping a girl aged 13 to 15 last Boxing Day. 4 Last night the Government said: 'We have taken action to ban foreign nationals who commit sexual offences from being granted asylum.' Our revelations come after an illegal migrant was jailed for raping a girl of 15, amid claims he did not understand 'cultural differences'. Afghan national Sadeq Nikzad, 29, pounced on the teen in Falkirk in October 2023. Defence counsel Janice Green told the High Court in Livingston there was a 'cultural barrier' with Nikzad's home nation where child marriage is common. There is no suggestion any of the accused in the three latest rape cases are linked to grooming gangs. But the issue of alleged criminality by illegal arrivals was raised in an official report this week. A damning review by Dame Louise Casey found they are involved in a 'significant proportion' of live police investigations into child sex grooming gangs. The report found police and council leaders covered up the scale of Asian grooming gangs since concerns were first raised in 2009 as they feared being called racist or raising community tensions. 'Axe hate team' By Martina Bet LABOUR'S work on a definition of Islamophobia threatens to shut down efforts to tackle grooming gangs, a report has warned. The party's working group on anti-Muslim hate should be suspended immediately until after the new inquiry into the scandal, think tank Policy Exchange says. Report co-author Sir John Jenkins said a definition would be an 'undeniable act of two-tier policy'. The group says even a non-binding definition risks silencing victims. It comes days after Baroness Casey's report said officials failed to mention that perpetrators were Asian for fear of appearing racist.
Times
18-05-2025
- Politics
- Times
Britons feel detached from society and distrustful of strangers
Britons feel disconnected from society, wary of other people and worried about community tensions, according to a survey. A poll of more than 13,000 British adults found that 50 per cent said they felt disengaged and 44 per cent said that they sometimes felt like a stranger in their own country. Sir Keir Starmer argued last week that Britain risked becoming an 'island of strangers' if immigration numbers did not decrease. The poll by the organisation More In Common suggested, however, that the reasons for feelings of detachment went beyond immigration and culture. It found that 47 per cent of British Asians felt like a stranger in their country compared with 44 per cent of white Britons. Economic insecurity was most closely related to alienation,
