A resident of an Essex migrant hotel has been convicted of sexually assaulting both a 14-year-old girl and a woman who tried to intervene. Damning audio evidence and an incoherent attempt at defending himself in court helped to ensure a guilty verdict.
Within days of making an illegal ‘small boat’ crossing, Ethiopian Hadush Kebatu touched the girl, said he “wanted to have a baby” with her, and invited her back to the Bell Hotel in Epping, in several incidents on July 7th and 8th.
After accepting pizza from the girl, Kebatu attempted to kiss her, touched her thigh, and asked her to kiss another child in front of him. When a local woman intervened, he also placed his hand on her thigh.
As word of these assaults spread, parent-led protests began outside Kebatu’s accommodation. Subsequently, Epping District Council brought legal action to close the hotel, on the grounds that it had undergone a ‘change of use’ to a migrant hostel without planning permission.
District Judge Christopher Williams dismissed Kebatu’s testimony as “a version of events he’d only decided upon when he took the witness stand.” The judge warned him he faced an “immediate custodial sentence” when back in court on September 23rd.
