UPDATE 1 - 25th July 2025 -
Shane Yerrell, a Conservative councillor, read out a message allegedly from the girl’s father during an impromptu council meeting on Thursday evening, which was called to discuss the recent unrest.
The letter read: “I just want the hotel to be moved, not only off our streets, but away from making any other family feel how we’re feeling right now.
“It’s not fair that the Government are putting our children and grandchildren at risk, even their own.”
The father went on to thank the community in Epping for their “kind messages”, adding that they were “helping [my daughter] get through every day”.
It marks the first time the alleged victim’s family has publicly weighed in on the disorder surrounding The Bell Hotel.
Mr Kebatu, 38, denied the charge when he appeared at Chelmsford magistrates’ court on July 17.
Protesters are pictured with police officers outside The Bell Hotel - Julian Simmonds for The Telegraph On Thursday evening, around 200 protesters gathered outside the hotel, which is situated less than a mile away from a school, to protest its housing of asylum seekers.
Demonstrators chanted “save our kids” in the pouring rain before marching to Epping district council’s offices in the town centre while the meeting was taking place.
Daily Telegraph
UPDATE 2 - 25th July 2025
Police have arrested 16 people after a protest outside a migrant hotel last week.
Essex Police said a small number of people had used a peaceful demonstration last Thursday as cover to commit violent disorder and criminal damage.
The protest, outside the Bell Hotel in Epping, began peacefully but escalated into what officers described as “scattered incidents of violence” targeting police and property.
Eight officers were injured and a number of police vehicles were damaged as missiles were thrown. https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/sixteen-arrested-after-protest-outside-migrant-hotel-in-epping/
That would be Ben-Julian Harrington of Essex Police.
The force further justified the move, saying they have "a reasonable duty to protect people who want to exercise their rights".
In reality, it appears they have a reasonable duty to protect some people who want to exercise their rights...
This is the same force that investigated a journalist over an online post, investigating her for an offence that carries a maximum sentence of 7 years.
FOI stats shows they arrest more than one person every day (1.4) on average for speech-related “crimes.”
They’ve even gone as far as complaining to the press regulator to impede journalism they didn’t like.
In 2023, Essex Police solved just 13.35% of recorded offences—despite a drop of more than 9,000 reported crimes compared to 2022.
For some offences, the solve rate fell below 10%. For rape, it collapsed to just 3.5%.
Back in 2021, Chief Constable Harrington claimed hate speech was among the greatest threats to Essex—seemingly putting it on the same level as rape, knife crime, domestic abuse, and child sexual exploitation.
And just months ago, he was pleading the government for more money—claiming Essex Police faced a £34 million shortfall for 2025.
Horrendous is an understatement.
https://x.com/starknakedbrief/status/1947778708766429252?s=48
UPDATE 3 - July 25th 2025
n recent weeks, residents of Epping have seen their commuter town become the focal point for violent disorder, centred around a hotel housing migrants.
Demonstrations in the Essex town have resulted in clashes with police at The Bell Hotel after an Ethiopian asylum seeker was arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a teenage girl.
While further protests on Thursday were largely peaceful, one arrest was made, with fresh demonstrations planned again for Sunday.
The disturbances, a year on from riots that engulfed the country after the Southport murders, have sparked fears of another summer of widespread disorder.
When The i Paper visited Epping on Thursday, ahead of the latest demonstration, people living in the area spoke of their concern about further disorder, while some spoke out about asylum seekers being housed in the hotel for the past few years.
Epping residents Amie Winter and Phil Cowley are concerned about prospect of further disorder Andrew Heaton, 72, questioned the checks that authorities were carrying out on migrants arriving in the UK on small boats.
“You arrive in the country eight days later, you’ve got open access to the whole country. The alleged attacker of the young girl in Epping he’d been in the country eight days,” he said.
Related video: Police raid on 'Epping protester': Suspect arrested at home (Daily Mail) Hello mate, you're right, you're going to be arrested, OK. Daily Mail
Police raid on 'Epping protester': Suspect arrested at home “Where’s the process? Who is going to check the person? They’re not checking them. It’s a joke.”
He described those involved in the clashes as a “rent-a-mob” who had been “bussed in”.
During a council meeting on Thursday, a message written by the father of the young girl who was allegedly targeted by an asylum seeker was read out by Conservative councillor Shane Yerrell.
In it, the father accused the Government of “putting our children and grandchildren at risk”, adding that he hoped his daughter would eventually get her “confidence back”.
“I just want the hotel to be moved,” the message said, “not only off our streets, but away from making any other family feel how we’re feeling right now.
“It’s not fair that the Government are putting our children and grandchildren at risk, even their own.”
He added: “Eventually, we will get her confidence back to the point where she’s able to go out without feeling scared.”
The council later unanimously voted to call on the Government “to immediately and permanently close” the hotel “for the purposes of asylum processing”.
The violence last weekend came after a peaceful protest descended into violence (Photo: Carl Court/Getty) The violence last weekend came after a peaceful protest descended into violence (Photo: Carl Court/Getty) Members of the far-right have helped organise and attended previous protests, which saw hundreds of people mass outside The Bell Hotel during three demonstrations taking place from 13 to 20 July.
Earlier this month, an asylum seeker staying at the hotel who recently arrived in the UK on a small boat was charged with three counts of sexual assault, inciting a girl to engage in sexual activity, and harassment.
Hadush Kebatu, 38, appeared at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court last Thursday, where he denied the alleged offences against two teenagers and a woman, which allegedly took place eight days after he landed in the UK.
The case has aroused widespread anger among many people in the area.
Phil Cowley, 63, said the recent disturbances had been “concerning”, adding they were “not really giving Epping a good name”
“It’s not really what we want to see. I think the initial reason for the protest, there’s some sympathy in why people may want to protest about it, and why people have concerns, ” he said.
Police walk next to protesters outside in Epping where asylum seekers are believed to be housed at the former Bell Hotel. Photo credit should read: Lucy North/PA Wire “I think the concern is that maybe the original people involved in what was going to be a peaceful protest have attracted a certain element that is making things worse rather than better.”
During a protest the night of Kebatu’s court appearance, crowds clashed with police in disturbances that saw eight officers injured.
Sixteen arrests were made with fireworks, eggs, and bottles hurled at officers after a peaceful protest descended into violence. Six people have been charged.
It came after two hotel staff were injured in what police said was a “racially aggravated” incident during an earlier demonstration.
Ed - Everything is racially aggravated I suppose when boatloads of unsafe young men of military age are imported and housed by the state in range of potential victims.
Another protest on Sunday by more than 1,500 people, which started peacefully, ended with missiles being hurled at police vans blocking the hotel entrance.
Last year, riots erupted in towns and cities across the country after false rumours swirled that Axel Rudakubana, the murderer of three young girls in Southport, was a Muslim asylum seeker.
While the spark for the current disorder differs from last year’s riots, there are signs of a similar snowball effect, with demonstrations already taking place outside migrant hotels in London and Norfolk.
Police are preparing for further demonstrations outside the Bell Hotel (Photo: Justin Tallis/AFP)
Tiff Lynch, chair of the Police Federation, has warned officers would have to be hauled away from frontline duties to marshal protests, describing Epping as a “signal flare”.
Local resident Amie Winter, 38, said people in the town feel “unsafe” as a result of the hotel housing asylum seekers.
“This type of area, it’s obviously really unusual because it’s a lovely, quiet area,” she said.
“Our kids go to school here, and they can’t freely walk around without the worry. I’m not saying that everyone in that hotel is a problem, but it is a problem for this area, because we pay a lot of money to live here.”
She also criticised the police’s handling of counter-demonstrators at the protests.
“A lot of the trouble has come where the other side of the coin, people are coming to oppose what we’re doing. There’s absolutely no racism in what we’re doing at all,” she said.
Read Next: Father of Epping girl allegedly assaulted: ‘Government putting children at risk’
“The police allowing all these people to come in to give their side of it is just making it worse.”
The force’s Chief Constable Ben-Julian Harrington has faced calls to resign from Nigel Farage after his officers were accused of escorting counter-protesters to one Epping demonstration.
Harrington said officers provided a foot cordon around the anti-racism protesters on their way to the demonstration and said some who were at risk of being hurt were escorted away in police vehicles, but denied ‘bussing’ them in.
ED - There' no need for The Police to lie. The Police bussed them in.
Essex Police have issued a dispersal order in Epping from 2pm on Thursday until 8am on Friday, covering an area including the town centre, and have banned face coverings at the latest demonstration, with fencing erected around the hotel.
Meanwhile, people living in the area are hoping that further disorder can be avoided in the coming days and weeks.
“I’m from East London, and we’ve been here for 10 years. I’ve never seen any trouble here,” said Jackie Offer, 77.
“It’s just a shame, really, what they’re doing. We don’t want to spoil it here.” https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/how-a-leafy-essex-town-became-the-focus-of-rent-a-mob-migrant-protests/
UPDATE 4 25th July 2025 - Despite persistent rainfall in Essex, several hundred demonstrators assembled outside a hotel accommodating asylum seekers, according to GB News National Reporter Charlie Peters.
The People's Channel fan-favourite said that after spending four hours at the location, nobody from the far-right was present.
The wet conditions failed to deter the substantial turnout, with Peters noting that approximately a few hundred individuals participated in the demonstration. The protest centred on a hotel that has become a focal point for local opposition, with residents expressing strong objections to its use for housing asylum seekers in their area.
Charlie challenged media reports suggesting far-right involvement in the demonstration, stating: "Some reporting say the far-right are involved in this protest or even organised it but I have been here four hours and I have not met any fascists, racists or Neo Nazis."
Charlie Peters Charlie Peters © GB News GB NEWS
Charlie Peters says nobody from the far-right was present
The GB News star emphasised that participants were predominantly local residents rather than extremist groups. He characterised the demonstrators as community members expressing genuine concerns about the situation.
Related video: Demonstrators fenced off as Epping protests continue (Metro) When police fans last Thursday, there were just six of Metro Demonstrators fenced off as Epping protests continue.
His observations contradicted suggestions that the protest had been orchestrated by far-right activists, despite online promotion of the demonstrations by such groups, as mentioned in other reports about the ongoing situation in Epping.
The demonstrators voiced apprehensions about approximately 140 men whom they described as unvetted being placed in their locality. Charlie reported: "They say this is risking their families."
Following the initial gathering, protesters proceeded from the hotel towards Epping's town centre.
The demonstration occurred against a backdrop of heightened tensions, with a recent court appearance of an Ethiopian asylum seeker charged with three counts of sexual assault against a local girl serving as a catalyst for the protests.
Participants expressed strong criticism of Essex Police's approach to managing the demonstrations. Peters noted: "Locals said they did not appreciate the style of policing."
The police implemented different crowd control measures compared to previous demonstrations, confining protesters to designated areas rather than allowing them direct access to the hotel frontage. Peters observed that no counter-demonstrators attended, "perhaps put off by the weather."
The chief constable's response drew particular criticism from locals. Charlie reported the officer stating "it wasn't for him to examine the decisions," which the correspondent described as "a bizarre statement from the constable of a police force."
Residents expressed frustration about counter-protesters wearing masks being permitted at previous demonstrations, which they believed had escalated tensions.
Peters noted locals felt this approach had "generated hostility" in their community.