Epping hotel case could set precedent, court told

An injunction that would temporarily block asylum seekers from being housed at an Essex hotel creates a "risk of a precedent being set", the Court of Appeal has heard.

Lawyers for the Home Office and the Bell Hotel in Epping are trying to lift an injunction on the hotel being used to accommodate asylum seekers.

At the start of a day-long hearing, barristers said the order to clear the hotel of 138 asylum seekers had been made without taking into account the precedent it would set.

Edward Brown KC, for the home secretary, said: "The judge erred in declining to allow the Secretary of State to participate in the proceedings, given her unique institutional competence and her statutory duty."

The court was told that the outcome of the case was of national importance because of the wider impact it could have on the asylum accommodation programme.

Other councils have suggested that they will go to court to seek similar injunctions against the use of hotels in their areas.

Last week, Mr Justice Eyre ruled the hotel cannot be used to accommodate asylum seekers from 12 September after an injunction sought by Epping Forest District Council.

The council claimed that planning rules had been breached. It asked for it to be granted after thousands of people protested against the use of the hotel as asylum seeker accommodation.

Somani Hotels Limited said in a written submission to the court: "The issue of the use of hotels for asylum seekers is one of national importance and scrutiny."

It said there was no evidence it had deliberately set out to breach planning laws and said the loss of accommodation would impact on the Home Offices ability to perform its legal duties towards asylum seekers.

There was "no evidence where exactly they would go" if the injunction was not overturned, it added.

The Bell Hotel became the focal point of several protests and counter-protests in recent weeks after an asylum seeker housed there was charged with sexually assaulting a teenage girl last month.

Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu has denied the offence and has been on trial this week.

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