A 33-year-old man from Loughton has been arrested on suspicion of violent disorder and criminal damage following violent clashes outside a hotel housing asylum seekers in Essex. Essex Police said he was detained on Saturday and remains in custody awaiting questioning.
The arrest is the third made in connection with the disorder outside the Bell hotel in Epping on Thursday evening. Eight police officers were injured during the incident, which began as a peaceful protest but escalated when crowds, some of whom were masked, surrounded a counter-demonstration by anti-racism activists. Protesters threw plastic bottles, eggs and flour before directly attacking officers and vandalising police vans.
Two people were arrested on Friday in relation to the protests. Dean Walters, 65, from Harlow, has been charged with affray and will appear in court in September following a separate protest on 13 July. A second man arrested for breach of a dispersal order has been released on conditional bail.
Thursday's demonstration was the latest in a series of protests outside the hotel since Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, a 38-year-old Ethiopian asylum seeker, was charged with three counts of sexual assault. He denied the offences when he appeared at Chelmsford Magistrates Court on Thursday and was remanded in custody ahead of a two-day trial next month.
Chief Superintendent Simon Anslow said the events in Epping were "shocking" and had no place in neighbourhoods, while emphasising that officers police "without fear or favour". He condemned "inflammatory comments" on social media suggesting police had supported certain protesters. Assistant Chief Constable Stuart Hooper urged people not to attend any future protests outside the hotel discussed online.
