Police bill for Epping protests could reach £1.7m
The cost of policing demonstrations in Epping could reach £1,000. A crime commission meeting was scheduled at 7 p. M. By October. Thousands of protesters have marched in the town after Hadush Kebatu, an asylum seeker, was charged with sexual assault in July. Since then, Essex Police have arrested 32 people in connection with a riot at the Bell Hotel, where Kebatu, who was later released, was staying. The force's response, according to Roger Hirst, Essex's police, fire and crime commissioner, needed a substantial amount
of funding.
Hirst said, "I believe some [officers] came from Wales to support [us].
Essex police will only receive government assistance if budgets exceeded £4 million, the Conservative Party explained, implying that the force would have to pay the bill. It's a classic public service conundrum,
he said. "You have the requirement right now, but you have to do it. That's the job. On Thursday evening, the latest protest outside The Bell Hotel took place. Although most of the action has been peaceful, Essex Police said eight officers were wounded on July 17th, when fireworks were allowed outside and eggs were released. At the High Court, Epping Forest District Council has been trying to discourage The Bell from housing asylum seekers. In August, the government was granted a provisional injunction, but the Court of Appeal later reversed it. On October 15, the full legal challenge will be back to the High Court. Tensions first erupted in July when Kebatu, an Ethiopian asylum seeker, was arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl and a woman. On Tuesday, he was found guilty of the offences at Chelmsford Magistrates' Court and sentenced to one year in prison.
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