Two charged after police officer injured and car driven 'in direction of cordon' during Epping asylum hotel protest
Two men have been charged after a police officer was injured and a car was driven towards a police cordon during Friday night's protest in Epping.
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Officers arrested three men during the latest demonstrations over the use of asylum hotels in the Essex town.
People had gathered to protest following the announcement that the government had won its bid to block the closure of the Bell Hotel, which has been at the centre of a wave of protests.
In response, officers implemented Section 14 of the Public Order Act 1986, meaning anyone assembling outside the hotel had to leave the area by 9.30pm.
Shortly after the protest's cut off time, a white car was seen driving on the wrong side of the road and heading direction of the officers maintaining a police cordon.
Read more: Epping asylum hotel timeline as government secures court victory
Ross Ellis, 49, was arrested on suspicion of drink driving after being stopped in a white car and taken into custody. He was due to appear at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court today.
Police also arrested Jimmy Hillard, 52, after a police officer sustained an ankle injury in High Road, Epping.
Hillard was charged with assaulting an emergency worker and is due to appear at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court on Monday.
A third man arrested on suspicion of violent disorder remains in custody at this time.
Speaking last night after the protest, Assistant chief constable Glen Pavelin said: "Protest is a democratic right, and we’ll always do all we can to facilitate that, for every group seeking to make their voice heard.
Read more: Chaos returns to Epping as protesters clash with police outside asylum hotel
"The overwhelming majority of people in Epping tonight clearly wanted their voices to be heard and they did that safely and without the need for a police response.
"However, the right to protest does not include a right to commit crime and tonight a small number of people were arrested. Two officers sustained injuries which are thankfully not serious.
"Officers will remain in the area in the coming hours to ensure the dispersal order which remains in place is adhered to."
Epping Forest District Council had been granted an interim injunction by the High Court, stopping the hotel’s owner, Somani Hotels, from using the hotel to accommodate asylum seekers beyond September 12.
The Home Office and Somani Hotels had been seeking to challenge this with a decision in a bid to avoid similar legal challenges across the country.
And following today's ruling, asylum seekers will now be allowed to stay in Epping's Bell Hotel beyond the previously given September 12 deadline.
Essex Police used additional powers to request that anyone assembling outside the hotel to leave the area by 9.30pm on Friday - they have said that this was adhered to.
A second order was put in place with regard to a small crowd on the Epping side of High Road, which said they needed to leave the area by 10pm - this was also followed.
A dispersal order is in place until 6am on Saturday August 30.
This means anyone who is suspected of committing, or being intent on committing, anti-social behaviour can be asked to leave the area by officers. If they do not, they face being arrested.
ACC Pavelin added: “The strength of feeling in Epping throughout the summer is not lost on me. My continued plea to those people who want their voices to be heard is to please do that safely and peacefully.”