In July 2025, a 14-year-old girl was sexually assaulted by an asylum seeker in Epping, a prosperous Essex town. The incident ignited a year of protests that have left the community deeply divided, with far-right groups exploiting local anger and counter-protesters struggling to restore cohesion.
The assault and immediate aftermath
Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, an Ethiopian asylum seeker, arrived in the UK on 29 June 2025 after a 6,000-mile journey. He was transferred to the Bell hotel in Epping on 7 July. That same day, he approached a group of 14-year-old schoolchildren near a Domino's pizza, asking for food. According to court documents, he told the girls they were pretty and that he wanted to have babies with them, invited them to the hotel, and attempted a kiss. Over two days, he sexually assaulted two 14-year-old girls, incited one to engage in sexual activity, and harassed them. He was arrested on 8 July and later convicted on multiple counts.
Far-right mobilization
Epping Forest district council leader Chris Whitbread, a Conservative, confirmed the suspect was from the Bell hotel, calling the hotel 'totally unsuitable' and lacking infrastructure. His statement, intended to urge calm, instead fueled outrage. A local Facebook group, originally Epping Forest Residents Group, was renamed 'Epping Says NO' and administered by members of Homeland, a neo-Nazi splinter group. Ringleader Callum Barker, who calls himself the 'Lion of Epping,' posted that he wanted 'entire communities gone.'
Protests began on 13 July 2025, with two security guards assaulted at a bus stop in a racially aggravated attack. On 17 July, a pitched battle between protesters and police left the high street blocked. Ch Insp Terry Fisher said he had 'never witnessed disorder of this scale in Essex, and certainly not in a town like Epping.'
Life inside the hotel
Ali, an Arabic-speaking Kurd from Syria, arrived at the Bell 10 days before the assault. He said residents were trapped inside, unable to study or go out. 'We would stay in our room as if we had committed a crime,' he said. Ali fled Syria to avoid mandatory military service and described the dangerous journey across the Channel in a small boat carrying 68 people. His family remains in Syria without electricity or internet.
The Pink Ladies and political exploitation
Orla Minihane, a financial services consultant and vice-chair of Reform UK's Epping Forest branch, formed the Pink Ladies, a group of mothers protesting for children's safety. She later defected to Restore Britain and shared a stage with Homeland member Barker. 'We are not happy with these men in this hotel because we fear for our children,' she told the BBC. 'If that makes me far right then so be it.'
Escalation and national attention
Protests continued weekly, with fireworks shot at the hotel and dogs brought to menace fences. A video showed a white man chasing a hotel resident into the road. Schoolchildren's banner reading 'Epping welcomes all … except racists' was burned. Elon Musk tweeted on 29 August 2025: 'As goes Epping, so goes all of England,' and later: 'Every village in Britain will become Epping unless the people of Britain take action now.'
When Kebatu was accidentally released from jail in October, panic spread via WhatsApp. Police debunked a rumour that an asylum seeker had entered a school; a homeless man had been looking for food in bins.
Formation of Epping for Everyone
Jane, a financial worker, helped form Epping for Everyone out of anger that far-right men were speaking for women. She said: 'Most women who turned up would have had some experience of being sexually assaulted, abused, harassed, whatever, and we were being spoken about. How dare they tell my story?' The group held community meetings and volunteers taught English to asylum seekers. Volunteers were shouted 'Scum!' at when entering the hotel.
The football tournament
In May 2026, Care4Calais organized a football tournament. Dom, a local coach, trained Bell residents in the hotel's concrete courtyard. They entered as Bell FC. Despite losing their first game, they improved and won the trophy. Ali, whose asylum claim had been rejected that day, banged a drum chanting 'Bell hotel!' Dom said: 'They just got better and better and better.'
Calm and removal
By June 2026, protests had dropped to once weekly. On 11 June, residents were moved to a processing centre without warning, part of a national strategy to empty asylum hotels. Restore Britain's Rupert Lowe claimed victory. Sherzod, an Uzbek asylum seeker who moved to Epping in early 2025, said: 'The horrible genie has been let out of the bottle.' He still feels targeted when going into town.
Ongoing division
A year on, Epping remains torn. Epping for Everyone focuses on community cohesion, while protesters still meet weekly, now without a target. One protester, Richard Strange, streamed doubts that the hotel was empty. Young women filmed themselves peering into windows, posting footage soundtracked by an AI-generated song. One found Bell FC's football as a trophy.
The battle over the Bell hotel is over, but the community's wounds remain fresh.
