Man accused of violent disorder outside asylum hotel described in court as ‘a pillar of community’
Defence Barrister told court Lee Gower "had every reason to be” at the protest outside The Bell Hotel in Epping
Last updated 8th Apr 2026
A man accused of violent disorder at an asylum hotel protest was described in court as the “man who runs the local football team” who “went along as a pillar of the community”.
Defence barrister Tony Wyatt said in his closing speech that Lee Gower said “why are you pushing me?” after he was pushed by a police officer in Epping, Essex.
Mr Wyatt told Chelmsford Crown Court that 43-year-old Gower, of Epping, had “every reason to be” at the protest outside The Bell Hotel in the town on July 17 last year.
He said Gower had been to two previous protests before the protest on the day in question.
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.
Mr Wyatt said Gower “went along (to the protest on July 17) as a pillar of the community”.
He described him as “the man who runs the local football team”.
He said there was no trouble before counter-protesters from Stand Up To Racism turned up.
“This wasn’t, you might think, a racist protest,” said Mr Wyatt.
“It was a protest about a very specific and very valid issue.”
He said police put in a cordon with “no announcement”.
He said Gower told a police officer “why are you pushing me?” and that the force Gower used was “in self-defence and it was most certainly reasonable”.
Mr Wyatt said Gower kicked out at a police van that nearly hit him, adding: “He had a natural human response.”
“I suggest to you nothing you see from this man is violence,” Mr Wyatt said.
Gower denies violent disorder and assaulting a police officer during the protest.
He is on trial alongside Phillip Curson, 53, of Upminster, who denies violent disorder.
Stefan Bisson, for Curson, said in his defence closing speech that footage shows police “pushing back those local protesters” after counter-protesters arrive.
“You will see there’s an elderly man holding a cigarette who’s pushed,” Mr Bisson said.
He said that “in the heat of everything” Curson pushed a police officer, and said he had acted in self-defence and in defence of others.
Mr Bisson said that when Curson kicked out it “didn’t land” and he described it as a “theatrical kick”.
“He says he didn’t intend to hurt him,” said Mr Bisson.
“It was just a show of bravado.”
Prosecutor Sam Willis said in his closing speech that the case was “not about the rights and wrongs of the protests taking place in Epping on the day in question”.
“It’s also not about the reasons for the protests taking place,” he said.
He said the case was about the offences charged on the indictment.
Mr Willis told jurors that they saw in videos that Gower threw an object at counter-protesters.
He said Gower “rushes and grabs things from counter-protesters”, grabbed police shields and kicked a police van.
He said Curson “pushes, grabs and grapples with police officers”, “kicks out at a police officer” and “makes numerous threats of violence towards the counter-protesters”.
He continued: “For both men, the videos show them being the aggressors and no plausible reason for them to think they were under attack or about to be.”
He said Gower “quite simply wants to get towards the counter-protesters” and “pushes and grapples with police officers trying to keep the two groups apart”.
“Both (men) appear intent on breaking through it (the cordon) to get to the counter-protesters up the road,” he said.
Judge Alexander Mills has begun summing up evidence in the case to jurors, who are due to be sent out to begin their deliberations on Thursday.