A small-boat migrant accused of sexually assaulting a schoolgirl in Epping begged for forgiveness after the police were called, a court heard.
Ethiopian Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, 38, allegedly tried to run off after grabbing the 14-year-old’s thigh and trying to kiss her while she was sitting on a bench with friends after school.
But a woman who witnessed the incident chased after him, Colchester Magistrates Court heard, and called 999 after catching him.
A friend of the girl’s said in a video interview played in court: ‘After she caught him he was saying sorry, sorry to everyone.
‘I was really creeped out. It was so weird.’
Prosecutor Stuart Cowen added: ‘We will see footage in which he was apologising, and gets on his knees as if to beg.’
The court also heard Mr Kebatu asked the girl to come back to his migrant hotel and have babies.
The friend said: ‘The guy came over to us and said he came to the town not that long ago, maybe four or five days, and he wanted pizza.
Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu is accused of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl just eight days after he arrived in Britain on a small boat
Court sketch of Mr Kebatu from his trial on August 26, 2025
Councillors in Epping won an injunction to shut down the Bell Hotel, where migrants including Mr Kebatu were housed
After the injunction was granted last week, protestors held a demonstration outside London’s High Court
‘He said it was a very nice town with lovely people.
‘Then he started saying the girl was very pretty and said he wanted to have babies with her. He stroked her hair.
‘He said: “Do you want to go to the Bell Hotel with me and have babies?”
‘The girl was saying “no”.’
The court heard a woman saw what was happening and tried to intervene, asking the girl if she was OK.
The girl allegedly said: ‘No, he’s touching me and stuff.’
Mr Kebatu then tried to run off, the court heard, but the woman ran after him and called the police.
Molly Dyas, defending, suggested Mr Kebatu had not asked the children for pizza, did not sit on the bench with them, did not make inappropriate comments towards the girl and did not touch her.
The friend insisted he was telling the truth about what happened.
Mr Kebatu’s arrest led to a huge anti-migrant demonstration in Epping, prompting the local council to seek an injunction that shut down the town’s Bell Hotel where he and other migrants were staying.
A second man who was staying at the hotel, Syrian migrant Mohammed Sharwarq, has also been charged with sexual assault, which he denies.
Mr Kebatu denies three counts of sexual assault, one attempted sexual assault, one charge of harassment and one of attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity. The trial continues.
