Gower, of Epping, also denies assaulting a police officer during the protest.<\/p>\n
Several demonstations were held outside the hotel over the summer, after asylum seeker Hadush Kebatu was charged with the sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl.<\/p>\n
The Ethiopian national, who arrived in the UK on a small boat days prior to the incidents, was later found guilty of five offences – including sexual assault – at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court.<\/p>\n
![\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/skynews-lee-gower-police_7201928.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Image:
\n Handout screen grab taken from bodyworn video dated 17 July 2025 issued by Essex Police of Lee Gower outside The Bell Hotel. Pic: PA<\/p>\n
Opening the trial on Tuesday, prosecutor Sam Willis said both defendants belonged to a “violent mob”.<\/p>\n
He told jurors at Chelmsford Crown Court: “This case is about an incident of serious and sustained public disorder arising from a protest in July of last year.<\/p>\n
“Although the protest began peacefully, it became violent – and these defendants are alleged to have been part of an aggressive mob that resorted to repeated acts of violence and vandalism – turning the town of Epping into a scene of disorder and chaos.”<\/p>\n
Mr Willis said Gower, Curson and “others, both identified and unknown” used violence, including “punching, kicking, throwing, pushing, and shoving – mostly aimed at police officers and police vehicles, but also sometimes aimed at the counter-protesters”.<\/p>\n
![\"Hadush](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/f7405ae48b9c5ef113dc309ba233536eaadfa428bafc658fb6ae5d86b118ed94_7062441.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Image:
\n Hadush Kebatu<\/p>\n
He told jurors six people had already pleaded guilty to violent disorder relating to the protest on 17 July.<\/p>\n
The prosecutor said crowds began to form outside The Bell Hotel from around 4pm that day – with 400 to 500 people at the demonstration. At around 5.30pm, about 50 counter-protesters arrived at Epping train station, and were escorted towards the hotel by police.<\/p>\n
Simultaneously, protesters outside the hotel started to run up the road to confront the counter-protesters.<\/p>\n
Police attempted to keep the two groups apart by imposing a cordon, the court heard.<\/p>\n
Mr Willis said: “From that point on until around 10pm, what had been a peaceful protest descended into serious public disorder in the streets of Epping.<\/p>\n
“Police officers were subjected to sustained attacks, including acts and threats of violence. Officers were grabbed, pushed, punched, and kicked. Police vans were kicked and damaged.”<\/p>\n
Read more from Sky News: Barrister Tony Wyatt told jurors Gower used force “in response to what he believed was unlawful force of a police service that had taken sides”.<\/p>\n Mr Wyatt added: “His belief was that when the police came there, they came there on the side of counter-protesters.”<\/p>\n Barrister Stefan Bisson told jurors that Curson was “in the wrong place at the wrong time”, having been at a nearby pub with his partner before the protest, adding that any physical force used was “in self-defence or in defence of others”.<\/p>\n Gower, who was arrested in Gloucester on 24 July, gave a prepared statement to police “denying using unlawful violence and stating that he had been acting in self defence and to prevent any escalation of violence or disorder”.<\/p>\n He also denies assaulting an emergency worker.<\/p>\n Curson, who was arrested on 28 July after walking into Chelmsford Police Station, denies using or threatening unlawful violence.<\/p>\n The trial continues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A “violent mob” at an asylum hotel protest attacked police officers and turned Epping into “a scene of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":493925,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,50,51,47,52,48],"class_list":{"0":"post-493924","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/493924","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=493924"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/493924\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/493925"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=493924"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=493924"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=493924"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\u00a31.4m raised for Jewish ambulances after arson attack<\/a>
Murder probe launched into death of woman at care home<\/a><\/p>\n