Men guilty of violent disorder near asylum hotel

Three men have been convicted of committing violent disorder during protests outside an asylum hotel in Essex.

Up to 500 people gathered outside The Bell Hotel in Epping on 17 July after a migrant living there was charged with – and later jailed for – sex offences.

Keith Silk, 33, Jonathan Glover, 47, and Charlie Land, 24, formed part of an “aggressive mob” among the crowd, a trial at Chelmsford Crown Court heard.

The defendants, from Essex and Hertfordshire, are due to be sentenced on 19 August.

Prosecutors said while the protest was initially peaceful, it descended into “serious public disorder” at about 17:30 BST.

It followed the arrival of about 50 counter-demonstrators, which led to clashes among the two groups.

Silk, of Torrington Drive, Loughton, threw a bottle at a police vehicle and was caught on camera trying to pull a hotel sign from the ground.

Footage also showed a hooded man, identified as Land, of Warren Close in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, smashing the windscreen of a police vehicle and ripping off wing mirrors.

Glover, of Springfields in Waltham Abbey, was seen confronting officers and getting into an altercation with them.

Prosecutor Sam Willis said Glover lost two teeth when an officer pushed him back with their riot shield.

A senior police officer previously described the scenes as the worst he had seen in his 20 years of policing.

Several other people have been convicted following the demonstrations outside The Bell Hotel on 17 July.

Three others were jailed in October, while Lee Gower, 43, and 38-year-old Shaun Thompson, both from Epping, were sentenced earlier this month.

Another protester, 53-year-old Phillip Curson, from Upminster in east London, is due to be sentenced on 14 August.

The Essex force has said policing the repeated protests last summer cost £1.54m.

Last week, the Home Office said fire safety concerns had been identified at the Bell Hotel and all asylum seekers were removed.

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