The father of a 14-year-old girl who was allegedly sexually assaulted by an asylum seeker in Epping has backed calls to have the hotel at the centre of an anti-migrant storm shut down.
The Bell Hotel, in the Essex market town, has been gripped by violent protests after an Ethiopian migrant was charged with sexual assaulting the schoolgirl just eight days after arriving in Britain on a small boat. He denies the charges.
Calls are growing for the Government to close the hotel amid rising tension in the community, with protests taking place on July 13, 17, 20 and again last night.
Police have arrested 16 suspects in a crackdown on the violent demonstrations and the force yesterday released bodycam footage of detaining a man in his 20s in his living room.
At a council meeting last night, Conservative councillor Shane Yerrell read out a message allegedly from the girl's father, which said: 'I just want the hotel to be moved, not only off our streets, but away from making any other family feel how we're feeling right now.
