Asylum seeker hotel resident guilty of sexual assaults days after arriving in UK

An asylum seeker hotel resident has been found guilty of sexually assaulting a woman and a 14-year-old girl days after arriving in the UK on a small boat.

Ethiopian national Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu’s behaviour in July sparked protests and counter-protests in Epping, Essex, and further demonstrations  outside hotels housing asylum seekers across the country.

His three-day trial heard he had told two teenagers he wanted to “have a baby with each of them” and attempted to kiss them, before going on to put his hand on one of the girls’ thighs and stroke her hair.

The defendant was also found to have sexually assaulted a woman by trying to kiss her, putting his hand on her leg and telling her she was pretty.

District judge Christopher Williams took just 30 minutes to return his guilty verdicts and his reasoning at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.

Kebatu, who was a “teacher of sports” in his home country, denied all charges against him – telling the court he is “not a wild animal”.

The defendant gave no visible reaction as Mr Williams told him he was guilty of two counts of sexual assault, one count of attempted sexual assault, one count of inciting a girl to engage in sexual activity, and one count of harassment without violence.

Kebatu is due to be sentenced at the same court on September 23.

The judge told the defendant he should expect an “immediate custodial sentence” after concluding he gave no comment to police as he “simply had no answer at the time, or one that would stand up to scrutiny”.

Mr Williams asked that a report be prepared about him before sentencing, noting there was “so little known” about him.

The judge took around an hour to explain to the defendant the reasons for his guilty verdicts – telling him: “I’m not persuaded that there is any evidence to suggest the children fabricated any of the evidence they gave.”

Essex Police are still investigating incidents of disorder after a number of protesters took to the streets following Kebatu’s sexual assaults.

Multiple demonstrations have been held outside the Bell Hotel since July 13 – with the force making 32 arrests and charging 21 people in connection with incidents of disorder.

Epping Forest District Council is taking legal action against Somani Hotels over the use of the Bell Hotel as accommodation for asylum seekers, and could still be granted an injunction when a full hearing takes place on October 13.

Kebatu’s trial was told he was offered pizza by the 14-year-old victim shortly before he tried to kiss her on July 7.

The court heard Kebatu had made inappropriate comments to the girl, such as “come back to Africa, you would be a good wife”, and “do you want to come to the Bell Hotel to have babies then we could go to Kenya with each other”.

The girl told police she “froze” as the defendant sexually assaulted her and had told Kebatu “no, I’m 14” when he spotted her again in Epping the following day.

The court heard his response to the teenager was: “No, no, it doesn’t matter, you could come back to the Bell Hotel with me”.

An adult member of the public was also sexually assaulted by Kebatu on July 8 during an incident in which he touched her leg and tried to kiss her when she offered to help him with his CV.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said she felt “shocked” and “uncomfortable” at his behaviour.

The adult victim told the court she confronted Kebatu when she saw him speaking to a “young schoolgirl”.

She said the defendant ran away from the initial confrontation, but she caught up with him near the Bell Hotel while on a 999 call with police.

The woman told the trial: “It was a lot of begging, pleading and apologising, and a lot of ‘I’m sorry, I’m going to go, it was a mistake’ – along those lines.”

Footage of Kebatu’s arrest showed him appear to become tearful after he was handcuffed by an officer, with the defendant eventually getting on his knees on the pavement next to a police car.