Three people have been arrested while protesting outside an asylum hotel in Epping, Essex, yesterday evening (Friday, August 29). Two police officers were also injured while policing the demonstration.
One man was arrested on suspicion of violent disorder, a second man was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police officer and a third man was arrested on suspicion of drink driving after a car was driven on the wrong side of the road towards a police cordon. The two officers were not seriously injured, say Essex Police.
The protests come after the Court of Appeal ruled that the Home Office could use The Bell Hotel, in Epping, to house asylum seekers yesterday. The Government appealed after legal action by Epping Forest District Council resulted in a court ruling that all 138 asylum seekers being housed at the hotel must be removed by September 12.
The Bell Hotel has been the centre of protests and counter-protests in recent weeks. These were sparked after a migrant being housed there was charged with sexually assaulting a teenage girl, which he denies.
Assistant chief constable Glen Pavelin said: “Protest is a democratic right, and we’ll always do all we can to facilitate that, for every group seeking to make their voice heard. The overwhelming majority of people in Epping tonight clearly wanted their voices to be heard and they did that safely and without the need for a police response.
“However, the right to protest does not include a right to commit crime and tonight a small number of people were arrested. Two officers sustained injuries which are thankfully not serious. Officers will remain in the area in the coming hours to ensure the dispersal order which remains in place is adhered to.”
Police use special powers to control protests
Police have used additional powers to implement special restrictions on protests outside the hotel in response to the gathering. Under Section 14 of the Public Order Act 1986, anyone assembling outside the hotel was required to leave the area safely by 9.30pm.
Further restrictions on a separate group were implemented under section 14, which required them to leave the area by 10pm. Both of these orders were adhered to, say Essex Police. A dispersal order was also put in place until 6am this morning, after a group which had come to Epping after attending a protest in Cheshunt. The order means anyone who is suspected of committing, or being intent on committing, anti-social behaviour can be asked to leave the area by officers. If they do not, they face being arrested.
All three of the men arrested in the protests last night remain in police custody. You can find out more about asylum seeking in London here.
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