A protest outside a hotel housing asylum seekers has descended into violence as anti-immigrant protestors gathered in Epping.
A large crowd gathered outside The Bell Hotel in Epping on Sunday, Essex after an asylum seeker was accused sexual assault.
Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, 38, was 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.
He committed the alleged offences just eight days after arriving to the UK by boat on June 29.
Police had to break up a fight between two men on Sunday outside the three-star establishment used to house migrant.
No arrests were made and no offences were reported to officers.
The defendant, from Ethiopia, was remanded in custody after a hearing at Colchester Magistrates' Court on Thursday. He denies any wrongdoing.
On Saturday, the district council's Conservative leader demanded the Home Office closed The Bell Hotel "without delay".
The angry crowd demonstrating outside the hotel were met with a counter-protest organised by Waltham Forest Stand up to Racism.
Some counter-protesters were holding signs reading: “Refugees Welcome: Stop The Far-Right”.
Superintendent Tim Tubbs said: “We respect everyone’s right to protest, and we police without fear of favour – these are important fundamentals of our work when it comes to public order.
“We’ll be working with all our partner agencies in the coming days to hear their thoughts and establish how we can provide the most effective police response for events like this in the future.
“As with all our policing of public events such as protests, we will review any bodyworn video to ensure any offences are detected.”
Chris Whitbread, the leader of Epping Forest District Council, said of The Bell Hotel, via The Standard: “From the outset, we warned the Home Office that this site is 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.
“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.
“Our warnings have been ignored for too long."
A petition organised by Mr Whitbread calls for the closure of The Bell Hotel, and the Phoenix Hotel in Bobbingworth, has gathered more than 4,500 signatures.
The petition states: “We are also deeply concerned about rising community tensions. Epping Forest has a history of extreme far-right activity, including the presence of groups such as the Homeland Party and previously elected British National Party councillors.
“The Government’s inaction risks fuelling division and undermining community cohesion. Our community feels ignored and let down. Epping Forest has been forced to carry an unfair burden in the ongoing illegal immigration crisis.”
A Home Office spokesperson said: “The right to protest is fundamental to our democracy, but this cannot cross the line into unlawful or violent behaviour. We continue to work closely with Essex Police
“While it would be inappropriate to comment on ongoing police investigations, we have already taken action to ban foreign nationals who commit sexual offences from being granted asylum, and will do everything in our power to pursue deportation from the UK so that these vile criminals are off our streets and paying the price for their crimes.
“We are also taking immediate action to fix the broken asylum system we inherited. We are increasing asylum decision making and removing over 35,000 people, including failed asylum seekers, immigration and foreign national offenders, and there are now fewer asylum hotels open than since the election.”
The Home Office said they have already taken action to ban foreign nationals who commit sexual offences from being granted asylum.
The Bell Hotel has been approached by LBC for comment.
