Epping council’s bid has been rejected by a court; council asked to stop the hotel accommodation after an asylum seeker was accused of sex crimes, sparking months of protests, Reuters reports.
Epping, about 20 miles north of London, had sought an injunction to stop the Bell Hotel from housing asylum seekers. The council had sought an injunction from London’s High Court, arguing that the hotel owner did not have planning permission to house asylum seekers.
The Home Office opposed the action,
saying that lawful evictions of asylum seekers would undermine the government’s ability to meet its obligations to provide accommodation. Judge Tim Mould said the current use of the Bell Hotel required planning permission and was in breach of the regulations. However, he refused to uphold the ban, stressing that the accommodation of asylum seekers in hotels was of great impact and importance.
The Bell Hotel became a flashpoint for protests in July after an Ethiopian asylum seeker was arrested for sexually assaulting a teenage girl and a woman and later sentenced to a year in prison. Both anti-immigration and pro-immigration protesters took part in the protests, with several cases of criminal charges brought for disorderly conduct.
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