Epping hotel asylum seeker found guilty of sexually assaulting 14-year-old girl

Chelmsford Magistrates Court heard that he was offered pizza by the teenage girl and a friend because he looked hungry.

Prosecutor Stuart Cowen alleged that he told the youngsters “he wanted to have a baby with each of them” before inviting them back to the former Bell Hotel in Epping, where he was living after arriving in the UK.

The alleged incident sparked protests and counter-protests outside the Hotel in Essex after similar protests were held outside hotels across the country which were housing asylum seekers.

In his closing statements, Mr Cowen said the 14-year-old girl, who the migrant allegedly sexually assaulted, was a “reliable and credible witness”.

He told the court: “It’s clearly a very serious matter which has provoked a widely reported public outcry”.

“However the court is not here to comment on the aftermath,” Mr Cowen added.

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Mr Cowen told District Judge Christopher Williams that the case “must be dealt with the same as any other”.

He said Kebatu’s explanation, he put forward during the trial, was “so incredible that it lacks any credibility whatsoever”.

However, Mr Cowen added that the “evidence of the prosecution witnesses was so credible the Crown say you can be sure” that he was guilty.

The prosecutor did concede Kebatu was “of good character, certainly in this country” where he had no previous convictions or cautions.

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Kebatu’s lawyer, Molly Dyas, told the court during her closing statements that her client “disputes most of the alleged interaction with this group of children”.

She submitted that he did not accept calling the girl “pretty” or making any of the alleged comments except for saying “hi”.

“He doesn’t accept eating pizza with the group or making any physical contact with anybody,” Ms Dyas added.

She directed her comments towards Judge Williams, saying: “He told you at the forefront of his mind was his asylum claim having arrived days before”.