Migrant charged with sexually assaulting man living at hotel at centre of protests in Epping
A migrant has been charged after allegedly sexually assaulting a man at the hotel at the centre of anti-migrant protests in Epping, Essex.
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Just weeks after anti-immigration protests erupted outside the Bell Hotel, a migrant from Syria has been charged after allegedly sexually assaulting a man.
Mohammed Sharwarq, 32, who lives at the hotel, will appear in court today.
Officers were called to his accommodation on Epping High Road where he was arrested after reportedly attacking another man between July 25 and August 12.
Sharwarq was charged with two counts of common assault, four counts of assault by beating and one count of sexual assault.
A spokesperson for the force said: "A man will appear in court today to face criminal charges after officers were called to the Bell Hotel on Epping High Road on Tuesday 12 August.
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"A 32-year-old man was arrested and questioned.
"Mohammed Sharwarq, a Syrian national who resides at The Bell Hotel, Epping has been charged with the following offences: two counts of common assault; four counts of assault by beating; one count of sexual assault on a male contrary to section 3 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003.
"The offences are alleged to have taken place between 25 July and 12 August.
"He has been remanded in custody and is due to appear at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court today, Wednesday 13 August."
Police asserted these offences did not take place within the Epping community.
Officers are not currently seeking any other suspects in relation with this case.
This comes as Epping Forest District Council is seeking a High Court ban on asylum seekers at the infamous hotel to avoid the "risk of further escalating community tensions".
The council applied for a High Court injunction which would ban the use of the hotel as accommodation for asylum seekers.
The hotel was at the centre of a string of anti-immigration protests earlier this month after an asylum seeker housed there was charged with sexual assault for allegedly attempting to kiss a 14-year-old girl.
The council has stressed the urgency of High Court action as community tensions remain at boiling point despite protests being centred elsewhere.
Councillor Chris Whitbread, Leader of Epping Forest District Council, said: “The current situation cannot go on. If the Bell Hotel was a nightclub we could have closed it down long ago.
"So far as the Council is aware, there is no criminal record checking of individuals who might only have been in the country a matter of days before being housed at the hotel. There are five schools and a residential care home within the vicinity of the hotel.
"The use by the Home Office of the premises for asylum seekers poses a clear risk of further escalating community tensions already at a high, and the risk of irreparable harm to the local community. This will only increase with the start of the new school year.
"We are frustrated that the Home Office continues not to listen. In our view placing asylum seekers in the Bell hotel is a clear breach of planning permission.
"It is not in use as a hotel, and it doesn’t function as a hotel. The establishment of a centre to accommodate asylum seekers in this particular location, in close proximity to five schools, a residential care home, and the shops and amenities of the market town of Epping is not appropriate in planning terms."