Security guards at asylum seeker hotel in Essex were ambushed at a bus stop during violent anti-immigration protests, police reveal as community anger continues

Two security guards working at an hotel housing asylum seekers in Essex have been left with serious injuries in what police called a ‘racially aggravated’ attack.

The stewards, both male, were assaulted by a group of men at a bus stop on Epping’s High Road, close to the town’s Bell Hotel – an asylum hotel that was the target of a large anti-immigration protest at the weekend.

Community anger has flared in Epping after an Ethiopian migrant was accused of a series of sexual assaults close to the hotel, just days after allegedly arriving in Britain via a small boat.

A protest was staged outside the Bell days after 38-year-old Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu allegedly attacked a woman and two teenagers, during which the security staff were both ambushed.

Police say the workers were ‘seriously assaulted’ by a group of men at a bus stop in High Road before they staggered past the protest into the hotel to get help.

Video footage shared from the weekend showed a man in a white shirt walking into the hotel with a bloody head injury.

Detectives are treating the attack, which left the pair with serious but not life-threatening injuries, as racially aggravated. 

Two days later, a man was arrested on suspicion of a racially aggravated public order offence and criminal damage after allegedly shouting racial abuse at the hotel and causing damage to the building.

Protesters and counter-protesters outside The Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex after a man was charged with a series of sexual assaults

A man was left with serious injuries during the July 13 protest. Police say two security guards were ambushed at a bus stop in a ‘racially aggravated’ attack 

Community anger spilled over outside the Bell Hotel on Sunday, with protesters calling for asylum seekers to ‘go home’

He has been released on bail as police continue to make enquiries. In the meantime, Essex Police chiefs have pleaded for calm in the community amid rising tensions.

Specifically, they have urged people not to speculate on the offences allegedly committed by Ethiopian national Kebatu, 38, in order to avoid derailing the case.

Kebatu was remanded in custody last Thursday after he 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. 

He is said to have arrived in Britain on June 29 – and denies all wrongdoing.

Superintendent Tim Tubbs said: ‘I am acutely aware of the strength of feeling locally, specifically on an ongoing police investigation which at this stage has seen one man charged with a number of sexual offences.

‘That case is continuing to progress through court and the suspect was remanded into custody after a hearing last week.

‘We know there is significant discussion about this ongoing case within the community and indeed further afield. 

‘As the police, we must be limited in what we say whilst a criminal investigation is progressing through the courts and the last thing we want is for any public discussion to hinder an ongoing prosecution.’

Supt Tubbs added that police were not seeking to curtail free speech in asking the public to moderate their views for the time being. 

Graffiti daubed on the windows of the Bell Hotel reads ‘Go Home’, ‘This is Englad (sic)’ and ‘Die’

A man thought to be one of the security guards attacked close to the Bell Hotel is helped inside by police

Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu (pictured) has been charged with sexually assaulting three women, including two teenagers

The Bell Hotel has been housing asylum seekers for the Home Office for the last five years

Supt Tubbs added: ‘We understand people’s right to make their voices heard on issues which matter to them. We don’t seek to stifle this.

‘People who do this peacefully, lawfully and responsibly cause us – and the wider public – no concern.

‘However, we can never and will never tolerate criminal violence of any sort and anyone identified as committing crime will be dealt with robustly.

‘There will continue to be a very visible policing presence in Epping in the coming days to ensure the safety of our community.

‘If you’ve got concerns or information you feel we need to know, please do not hesitate to contact those officers.’

Following Kebatu’s arrest, protesters descended on the Bell Hotel on July 13, daubing slogans such as ‘This is Englad (sic)’, ‘Die’ and ‘Go Home’ on the windows.

They held St George’s Cross flags inscribed with ‘Save Our Kids’ and ‘Send Them Home’ – met by a counter-protest organised by Stand Up To Racism, who waved signs reading ‘Refugees Welcome’. 

Some shouted obscenities at the hotel. One was heard screaming ‘Go home you c***, go home. F*** off back on your boat and go’. 

The anger directed at the Bell Hotel has impacted some of its residents. Migrant Ismael Wani, from Kuwait, told MailOnline he was punched in the head by a gang of men who got out of two cars and told him to ‘f*** off back home’. 

Home Official officials began using hotels to house asylum seekers on a large scale five years ago as they struggled to cope with the ever-growing backlog of claims.

Anti-migration protesters sit with a sign reading ‘Send Them Home!’ outside the Bell Hotel on Sunday

A counter-protest organised by Stand Up To Racism saw others wave signs reading ‘Stop the Far Right’ and ‘Refugees Welcome’

A shirtless man found his way onto the roof of the Bell Hotel during Sunday’s protests. Police have urged for calm in the local area

Chris Whitbread, leader of the local Epping Forest District Council, said his authority had ‘consistently and repeatedly’ opposed the use of the Bell Hotel to house migrants, calling it ‘entirely inappropriate’ and ‘reckless’.

The Bell Hotel has been housing asylum seekers for around five years – a fact that has not gone unnoticed by right-wing activists.

Julian Leppert, a local councillor who represented the anti-Islam For Britain movement and once stood for the British National Party, was accused of inciting racial hatred after he posted an incendiary video on YouTube in 2020.

The video, called The Epping Migrant Hotel Scandal, claimed the Bell Hotel was being used by asylum seekers and illegal immigrants who had travelled to Britain to exploit the benefits system.

Leppert – who once suggested to the Guardian he advocated for some areas being all-white – claimed that provisions from a food bank were being diverted away from local people and that the new residents of the hotel were driving a new crime wave.

The one-time BNP man, who also once had to deny his car’s number plate resembled the word ‘Nazi’ – was also asked to substantiate his claims by council bosses and was sanctioned for breaching its code of conduct when he could not do so.

In response, Epping Forest District Council published a ‘myth-busting’ leaflet to counter ‘unfounded rumours’ that had circulated on social media leaving many residents ‘unnecessarily alarmed’.

It featured council housing portfolio holder – and Mr Whitbread’s daughter – Holly Whitbread stating that the hotel had ‘no negative impact on local residents’.

She has since promoted a petition seeking the Bell’s closure on social media. It has collected 6,700 signatures to date.