A blind woman who was at home when a hotel migrant burst into her house near Canary Wharf feared for her life during the episode, her family have revealed.
The man is said to have entered the house on Wednesday night after being followed by a group of men on the street and told to ‘go back to the hotel’ where anti-migrant protesters were gathered outside.
The Britannia International Hotel is being used to house hundreds of asylum seekers.
Cherelle Augustus, 35, said her sister suffers from a series of serious health complications, including being blind.
She was at home with another relative when the man entered the home, just a few hundred yards from the hotel.
The Met said the man had not been charged ‘as our initial investigation has not identified any offences’. They refused to say if he was a migrant staying at the hotel.
But later, a relative of Cherelle was arrested on suspicion of common assault against a security guard, possession of an offensive weapon, affray, possession of Class B drugs and assault on an emergency worker.
This was after she confronted police and security about how the man and entered her relative’s property.
Cherelle said her sister is ‘traumatised’ by what happened.
The man is said to have entered the house after being followed by a group of men on the street and told to ‘go back to the hotel’
Another group of up to 50 migrants arrived at the hotel at the crack of dawn this morning before being hurried inside by guards
Police officers guard the Britannia Hotel housing asylum seekers during a demonstration
Cherelle, 35, said: ‘My poor sister had no idea what was happening. She was with my niece in the house at the time last night.
‘She’s in such a vulnerable state. She had been in hospital earlier in the week and had been in an induced coma earlier in the day when this lunatic bursts in.
‘She was so scared. He never said he was being chased. He didn’t say he was coming in for safety. The door was open because it’s so warm.
‘My young niece was in the property as well with my sister. She was so worried.
‘They had no idea what his intentions were. They feared for their lives. He could have been anyone or capable of anything.
‘He could have been armed. They felt trapped in their house where they are supposed to be safe.
‘They were terrified.’
She claims police then returned him to the hotel via car and did not question him why he had entered the property.
The men were brought to the site on coaches at 5.34am today and told to run into the lobby to avoid cameras
The Britannia International Hotel is being used to house hundreds of asylum seekers
Protestors have held demonstrations outside the hotel, opposing its use to house asylum seekers
She added: ‘But you get arrested for standing up to them.
‘It’s two tier policing. They are an absolute disgrace.
‘I’m horrified at what has happened. It’s disgusting.
‘It’s a joke. But it’s not funny it’s deadly serious.
‘People are terrified.’
The Britannia International Hotel is being used to house hundreds of asylum seekers.
The Met said the man had not been charged ‘as our initial investigation has not identified any offences’. They refused to say if he was a migrant staying at the hotel.
It comes as another group of up to 50 migrants arrived at the hotel at the crack of dawn this morning before being hurried inside by guards.
The migrants arrived in a coach at the crack of dawn
The men were brought to the site in coaches at 5.34am today and told to run into the lobby to avoid cameras.
The hotel has been a focus of protests in recent weeks after Tower Hamlets Council confirmed it had been handed over to the Home Office to house asylum seekers.
Last night, the Met said its officers were investigating a ‘complex’ set of circumstances.
A statement said: ‘We are aware of videos circulating online relating to an incident that officers were called to at 18:07hrs on Wednesday, 13 August at Marsh Wall, E14.
‘We understand a man entered a property through an open door, having been followed by a group of men in the street.
‘The man has not been arrested at this time as our initial investigation has not identified any offences – we understand this is distressing for the occupants.
‘In a separate incident following this, a 22-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of common assault against a security guard, possession of an offensive weapon, affray, possession of Class B drugs and assault on an emergency worker.
‘A section 35 dispersal order was put in place in the vicinity of the area and a 28-year-old man and a 57-year-old woman were arrested for breaching the order.
A protester who was asked to remove his face mask shouts at a police officer whilst taking part in the Stand Up to Racism rally outside the Britannia International Hotel on Friday
Officers made two arrests on Friday during clashes between anti-migrant protesters and ‘anti-fascists’
‘This is a complex set of events and we are working hard to investigate and understand what happened, reviewing officers’ body-worn video and any other video footage.’
Another video posted on TikTok shows a group of onlookers questioning the police about why the man had not been arrested.
The four-star hotel has been a flashpoint for protest in recent weeks.
On Friday, a crowd of anti-migrant protesters descended on the hotel to be met by counter demonstrators.
Officers were seen pinning some activists on the ground, with two arrests made.
One was an anti-migrant protester who was detained after a bottle was thrown at officers.
The other was a member of the counter-protest group who was arrested for failing to remove their face covering.
The main road outside the hotel was blocked by hundreds of demonstrators shouting ‘save our kids’.
Migrants leave a beach in northern France in a smuggler’s boat yesterday
Watching on: A French gendarme watches the boat with a pair of binoculars
The scenes were pictured on the beach of Hardelot in Neufchatel-Hardelot
Police had to rapidly mobilise to contain a group of ‘anti-fascist’ activists arriving at South Quay station to confront anti-migrant protesters as they held signs that said ‘no human is illegal’ and chanted: ‘Refugees have the right – here to stay, here to fight.’
More than a hundred police officers moved to kettle the group outside the tube station for breaching the peace.
People then made their way into the town as the main road outside the hotel was closed.
Dozens were carrying flags, leading chants of ‘Keir Starmer is a w*****’ and ‘send them home’.
A record 107 small boat migrants reached Britain in just one dinghy yesterday, confounding Labour’s pledge to ‘smash the gangs‘.
Images from the port of Dover showed human traffickers have begun to deploy a new, longer type of inflatable.
The dinghy – which can barely be described as a ‘small boat’ – was recovered in the Channel and taken to Dover, where it was being examined by Border Force and law enforcement, GB News reported.
The appearance of the larger type of dinghy further undermines Labour’s decision to concentrate on law enforcement responses to ‘smash the gangs’.
The Rwanda scheme was designed to make crossing the Channel pointless, because migrants would be sent to Rwanda to claim asylum there instead of here.
On Monday alone there were 474 Channel arrivals, pushing the total past 50,000 since Labour came to power.
