An Epping hotel housing asylum seekers is putting school pupils in danger and is acting as a “feeding ground for unrest and protest, the council has told the High Court in a bid for an injunction to shut it down.
The Bell Hotel has been at the centre of regular protests for more than a month after it emerged that an asylum seeker had been charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl.
Public areas around the hotel have been the setting for violent clashes, leading to 28 arrests and a series of charges for criminal offences.
At the High Court on Friday the council applied for a temporary injunction, to force the hotel to clear out asylum seekers.
It says hotel bosses are in breach of planning laws by using the site for housing asylum seekers instead of to accommodate paying guests.
“The use of the Bell Hotel for accommodating asylum seekers is a clear breach of planning control”, said Philip Coppel KC, representing the council.
He said the bid for an injunction is based on “restoring the safety of nearby residents, in particular students at the five schools within walking distance of the Bell Hotel”, and “removing of the catalyst for violent protests in public places adjacent to the Bell Hotel”.
He said a court order would “allay the serious anxiety being caused to residents within the vicinity of the Bell Hotel”, and also have the effect of “alleviating asylum seeker exposure to violent protests and a placement that provides inadequate resources for their needs.”
The hotel management is opposing the injunction, arguing the building has continued to be used as a hotel with the Home Office as the paying customer.
Barristers for the 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 that 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.
Opening its application, Mr Coppel argued that “allowing the status quo to continue is wholly unacceptable, providing a feeding ground for unrest and protest, a danger to school age students about to start the new school year, a valid source of anxiety for their parents and teachers, and a disfigurement of the local environment.”
He told Mr Justice Eyre: “It’s a problem that’s getting out of hand, causing great anxiety to those living in the district.”
The court heard the Bell Hotel was built in 1900, on a site which has been used for a hotel for hundreds of years.
During the pandemic, it was used to house asylum seekers and the council said it was told it would eventually return to normal use.
Mr Coppel said the current occupants moved in from April this year, after the hotel was identified by the Home Office as a potential home for asylum seekers.
“The place is unrecognisable as a hotel, but for the old sign that sits on the outside”, he said.
“They (asylum seekers) do not choose to go to the Bell Hotel as a person might choose to stay at a hotel. There is no agreement between them and the hotel, they don’t choose the duration of their stay, they don’t choose the type of room.”
He also detailed to the court some of the incidents of unrest at protests, including violent disorder in mid-July, graffiti, eggs and fireworks being thrown, and assaults on police and security guards.
A man who was staying at the hotel, Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, 38, has been charged with sexual assault on a 14-year-old girl at a nearby branch of Dominoes pizza. He denies the charge and will stand trial this month.
A second man who resides at the hotel, Syrian national Mohammed Sharwarq, 32, has separately been charged with seven offences.
He denies sexual assault after being alleged to have kissed a man on the neck.
He indicated guilty pleas to a further two counts of common assault and four of assault by beating at the hotel between July 25 and August 12.
The judge reserved his decision on the injunction until 2pm on Tuesday.
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