A protester who demonstrated outside the Bell Hotel in Epping has been warned he faces an immediate prison sentence after admitting violent disorder.
Martin Peagram, 33, of Loughton, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court to violent disorder during protests outside the asylum seeker hotel on 27 July.
The protests coincided with legal battles over the hotel’s use to house migrants. The Court of Appeal last week overturned an injunction that would have stopped asylum seekers being housed at the site beyond 12 September, a ruling described as a “significant victory” for the Government.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper’s legal team argued that closing the hotel would have set a dangerous precedent. Meanwhile, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch and Reform UK’s Nigel Farage both criticised the ruling, claiming it prioritised “illegal migrants” over local communities.
The Government has confirmed its plan to close all migrant hotels by 2029, stressing that move-outs must happen in a “controlled and orderly way.”
