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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
National
Bill Bowkett

Another migrant living at controversial Epping asylum hotel charged with sexual assault

Another migrant living at a controversial asylum hotel in Essex has been charged with a series of offences, including sexual assault.

Mohammed Sharwarq, a Syrian national living at The Bell Hotel in Epping, faces seven charges linked to offences alleged to have been committed between July 25 and August 12.

The 32-year-old has been charged with two counts of common assault, four counts of assault by beating and one count of sexual assault on a man.

The three-star establishment has been at the centre of a series of anti-migrant protests held outside state-funded accommodation for asylum seekers.

It came after Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, 38, who came to Britain on small boat on June 29, 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.

The defendant, who is originally from Ethiopia and lives at the hotel on High Road, was remanded in custody after a hearing at Colchester Magistrates' Court in July. He denies any wrongdoing.

Epping Forest District Council has applied for an interim High Court injunction in a bid to stop asylum seekers from being housed in the building.

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