Two charged following Epping asylum hotel protests

• Two men have been charged following protests outside a hotel housing asylum seekers in Epping, Essex, with a third man remaining in custody.
• Ross Ellis, 49, was charged with failing to provide a specimen, and Jimmy Hillard, 52, was charged with assaulting an emergency worker.
• Assistant Chief Constable Glen Pavelin of Essex Police stated that the right to protest does not include the right to commit crime.
• The Bell Hotel in Epping has been a focal point for protests after an asylum seeker there was charged with sexual assault, though the hotel and Home Office recently won a legal challenge to house 138 asylum seekers.
• Similar protests occurred near the Delta Marriott hotel in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, with Broxbourne Council expressing concerns and planning legal action to seek its closure for housing asylum seekers.

IN FULL

Two men charged after police officers injured at Epping asylum hotel protest