Two men found guilty of disorder outside Epping hotel

Two men have been found guilty of disorder outside the Bell Hotel in Epping last summer.

Lee Gower, 43, from Epping, and Phillip Curson, 53, from Upminster, both participated in the protests, and denied violent disorder in Chelmsford Crown Court.

Multiple protests were held outside The Bell Hotel over the summer, after asylum seeker Hadush Kebatu was charged with the sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl.

The Ethiopian national, who arrived in the UK on a small boat days before the incidents, was later found guilty of five offences – including sexual assault – at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court.

Kebatu was jailed but wrongfully freed from HMP Chelmsford in October, before he was detained and deported to Ethiopia later that month.

Lee Gower was described in court as a "pillar of the community", and the defence claimed he was pushed by a police officer in Epping.

The defence said that Gower kicked out at a police van that nearly hit him, saying it was a "natural human response."

Phillip Curson's defence said that "in the heat of everything" he pushed a police officer, and said he acted in self-defence and in the defence of others.

He described a kick by Curson as "theatrical" that didn't intend to hurt anyone.

The prosecution, when closing their case, said that both men were seen as aggressors on video footage, and there there was "no plausible reason for them to think they were under attack or about to be."

They said Gower "rushes and grabs things from counter-protestors", and that Curson "pushes, grabs and grapples with police officers."

“Both (men) appear intent on breaking through it (the cordon) to get to the counter-protesters up the road."

A sentencing date has yet to be set.

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