'Dark day for local democracy' - fury erupts over Epping hotel migrant decision

A landmark High Court ruling allowing migrants to stay in a controversial asylum hotel is a "dark day for local democracy", ministers have been told. Labour's pursuit of an "open-borders dogma" led to the people of Epping being "silenced in their own town" as they fought for the Bell Hotel to be closed.

On Tuesday, the High Court rejected Epping Forest District Council's argument that housing up to 138 asylum seekers in the three-star venue breached planning laws. A council chief said the decision means "the Home Secretary can now ignore planning law, the concerns of local councils and their residents", adding that they were "outgunned by bigger and more powerful interests". And Mr Justice Mould seemingly dismissed the link between small boat arrivals and an increase in crime.

The judge claimed Hadush Kebatu's sex attacks on a schoolgirl and a woman, which sparked nationwide protests, and other offences committed by asylum seekers from "time to time" while living in asylum accommodation do not provide a "reliable basis" to assume public safety is being put at risk.

Mr Justice Mould also said Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood's legal duty to house asylum seekers outweighs community concerns.

Epping Forest district councillor Ken Williamson said in a statement: "This is a devastating decision for local democracy. We won the moral and ethical arguments, but we were outgunned by bigger and more powerful interests.

"In the interests of political expediency, the Home Secretary can now ignore planning law, the concerns of local councils and their residents.

"From the very beginning, our only motive has been to protect and defend the interests of our residents. We knew the Home Office would not like it, but it was important to stand up for our residents. Local people must have some control over local decisions.

"But what we saw in court was an unholy alliance of lawyers for Government and big business intent on protecting huge profits and an indefensible asylum policy."

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: "This is a dark day for local democracy and a slap in the face to the people of Epping. A Labour Government has once again put the rights of illegal immigrants above the rights of British citizens.

"The people of Epping have been silenced in their own town. Their council fought for them, their voices were ignored. Labour's lawyers fought tooth and nail to keep this hotel open, even after a migrant housed there was jailed for sexually assaulting a teenage girl.

"This weak Labour Government does not care about the people of Epping. It cares only about forcing through its open-border dogma."

Protests erupted outside The Bell in July after Kebatu, a 41-year-old Ethiopian asylum seeker, was charged with sexually assaulting a girl and a woman in Epping.

He was sentenced to a year in prison for his crimes but was accidentally released from jail two weeks ago, prompting a large-scale manhunt. He was deported to Ethiopia after being caught by police in Finsbury Park in London two days after his release.

Epping Forest District Council secured a temporary injunction at the end of August, arguing that escalating community tensions were harming the area and stressed using the hotel to house asylum seekers was a breach of planning laws.

But the Home Office argued that the need to meet the human rights of asylum seekers by housing them in hotels outweighed the safety concerns of local families.

And lawyers acting for the department warned that the injunction could fuel more protests, paving the way for every council to potentially challenge asylum hotels.

Yvette Cooper, the home secretary at the time, challenged the decision in the Court of Appeal, which ruled in favour of the Home Office. It quashed the injunction, allowing the migrants to remain in The Bell in the weeks leading up to Tuesday's ruling.

And the High Court ruled in the Home Office's favour, dealing a devastating blow to the community.

In an 87-page judgment, Mr Justice Mould said: "I have reached the clear conclusion that this is not a case in which it is just and convenient for this court to grant an injunction.

"I give due respect to the claimant's judgment that the current use of the Bell as contingency accommodation for asylum seekers constitutes a material change in the use of those premises, which requires planning permission.

"Nevertheless, I have not been persuaded that an injunction is a commensurate response to that postulated breach of planning control.

"The breach is far from being flagrant."

He appeared to dismiss fears of crime increases in areas where asylum seekers are housed.

Mr Justice Mould added: "The fact that persons accommodated in asylum accommodation pursuant to sections 95 and 98 of the 1999 Act from time to time commit criminal offences or behave antisocially provides no reliable basis for asserting any particular propensity of asylum seekers to engage in criminal or anti-social behaviour.

"Persons who are members of the settled population also commit crimes and behave antisocially from time to time."

And the High Court judge said the Home Office had sufficiently demonstrated that it still needs hotels to house migrants.

Shadow Home Office minister Katie Lam said: "This ruling will be a bitter blow for Epping residents.

"The Bell Hotel was never meant to become a long-term holding pen for migrants. It has divided the community and put public safety at risk.

"The sexual assault of a 14-year old girl should have been enough to end this farce for good, yet ministers fought to continue putting migrants into Epping."

A Home Office spokesperson said: "We are furious at the level of illegal migrants and asylum hotels in this country.

"This government will close every asylum hotel. Work is well under way to move asylum seekers into more suitable accommodation, such as military bases, to ease pressure on communities across the country.

"We are working to do so as swiftly as possible as part of an orderly, planned and sustained programme. This judgment allows us to do that."