A council has been successful in its bid to temporarily block asylum seekers from being housed at an Essex hotel.
Epping Forest District Council has been granted a temporary High Court injunction to block migrants from being accommodated at the Bell Hotel in Epping after protests erupted at the site when 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, which owns the building, 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 council had argued it wanted the restrictions in place before the school summer holidays ended.
Barristers for the hotel 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 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.
Barristers for the hotel 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 contracts to house asylum seekers were a "financial lifeline" for the hotel, which was only 1 per cent full in August 2022, when it was open to paying customers.
Mr Justice Eyre ruled on the decision at 2pm on Tuesday. At the end of the hearing last week, he ordered that Somani Hotels could not "accept any new applications" from asylum seekers to stay at the site until he had given a decision.
Piers Riley-Smith, for Somani Hotels, said that "disagreement with Government policy" did not justify a "draconian" injunction and that there would be "hardship" caused to the company and those housed at the hotel. Mr Riley-Smith said: "It is clear that recent protests have expanded far beyond the local community and have gone into concerns about wider ideological and political issues from those outside the community.
"Those particular ideological, non-community concerns are not relevant to planning." The hotel was 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.
On Thursday night, eight officers were injured during altercations between protesters and police, with those hurt sustaining injuries to their hands as well as cuts and grazes. A video circulating on social media on Thursday evening showed a police vehicle driving towards a number of protesters and appearing to collide with at least one person.
Commenting on the footage, a spokesperson from the Metropolitan Police told the Mirror: "Met officers attended Epping, Essex on the evening of Thursday, 17 July, following a request by Essex Police to support with an ongoing protest and counter-protest.
"On arrival, officers were met with significant hostility from protestors, with police vehicles damaged and officers threatened with violence. During their attendance, officers attempted to leave the immediate area due to safety concerns and were subsequently blocked in by the group of protestors using barriers. During this, a police van made contact with one of the protesters."