19-Year-Old Man Charged Over Protest Outside Merseyside Migrant Hotel

A burnt out police van after a demonstration outside the Suites Hotel in Knowsley, Merseyside, England, on Feb. 10, 2023. (Peter Powell/PA Media)

A man has been charged with violent disorder and assault after a protest outside a hotel housing asylum seekers turned violent.

Jarad Skeete, 19, of Irwell Close, Aigburth, Liverpool, was among 15 people arrested amid the demonstration outside the Suites Hotel in Knowsley on Friday evening, Merseyside Police said.

Skeete has been accused of violent disorder and assault by beating an emergency services worker. He has been remanded in custody and will appear at Wirral Adult Remand Court on Monday.

The remaining 14 people who were arrested—12 men and two women who are mainly from the Knowsley area—have been conditionally bailed pending the outcome of police inquiries.

The protest took place after video was circulated on social media showing a man with a foreign accent allegedly making inappropriate remarks to a 15-year-old local girl.

Merseyside police said the protest was “initially peaceful” before a separate group of people turned up to make trouble. A police van was burnt and three people received minor injuries.

Police outside the Suites Hotel in Knowsley, Merseyside, England, on Feb. 11, 2023. (Peter Powell/PA Media)

Police Van Burnt

At around 6:30 p.m. on Friday, a protest and a counter-protest were staged at the Suites Hotel on Ribblers Lane in Prescot, Knowsley. The hotel has been used by the Home Office to house asylum seekers since January 2022.

Police said a number of people who were “not part of the original protest group” turned up shortly after.

“And it is clear that they were only interested in causing trouble through violence and intimidation without any thought, or care, for other members of the public, or our officers,” Merseyside police said in a statement on Saturday.

“Missiles including lit fireworks were thrown at officers and one of our police vans was attacked by offenders, using hammers before setting it on fire,” the statement said, adding that one officer and two members of the public received slight injuries.

Chief Constable Serena Kennedy, said the group that turned up later “were intent on using a planned protest to carry out violent and despicable behaviour.”

“They turned up armed with hammers and fireworks to cause as much trouble as they could and their actions could have resulted in members of the public and police officers being seriously injured, or worse,” she said.

‘Misinformation’

Kennedy said the violent protest took place after “rumours and misinformation” being circulated on social media following an incident earlier in the week, referring to a video that showed a 15-year-old girl being approached by a man with broken English around nearby Kirkby Leisure Centre on Feb. 6.

The video appeared to be discreetly filmed by the girl and didn’t show the faces of those involved. The man said he was 25 while the girl said she was 15.

It’s unclear whether the man was an asylum seeker or whether he lived at the hotel.

Following the incident, some Twitter accounts which shared the video claimed migrants were “allegedly molesting and grooming children.”

Kennedy said the Kirkby incident was reported to the police by members of the public but no victim was initially identified.

She also said following enquiries, a man in his 20s was arrested on Feb. 9 in another part of the country on suspicion of a public order offence, and he was released with no further action under the advice of the Crown Prosecution Service.

“I want to make it absolutely clear that this is very much an ongoing investigation, and we would urge anyone who witnessed this incident, or who has any information, which could help us bring the offender to justice, to come forward,” she said.

“Social media speculation, misinformation, and rumour can actually damage the outcome of investigations and cause unnecessary fear and consequent behaviour, so I would continue to ask people to be mindful of the damage that such actions can cause,” she said.

Condemnations

Home Secretary Suella Braverman on Saturday condemned the disorder, adding “alleged behaviour of some asylum seekers is never an excuse for violence.”

She wrote on Twitter: “I condemn the appalling disorder in Knowsley last night. The alleged behaviour of some asylum seekers is never an excuse for violence and intimidation. Thank you to @MerseyPolice officers for keeping everyone safe.”

But the opposition Labour Party accused the government of creating a “toxic mix” of anti-migrant rhetoric and poor service provision.

Describing the protest as “absolutely horrendous,” shadow levelling up secretary Lisa Nandy said: “There are a small number of far right activists who whip up hate and hostility in this country, we all need to speak with one voice when we say that we utterly condemn them.”

Nandy described the government’s decisions to contract out asylum services, forgo consultation with communities, and place refugees in unsuitable accommodation as a “recipe for disaster.”

Development minister Andrew Mitchell also said that the violence was “totally unjustifiable.”

He told the BBC: “We live in a country where peaceful protest is part of our way of life and I strongly support that. But violence in the way that we saw on Friday night is completely unacceptable, and the government condemn it absolutely.”

He rejected suggestions that the government had helped stir up anti-migrant sentiment, adding that it has housed “thousands and thousands of Ukrainian refugees” along with people from Hong Kong and Afghanistan.

“This is an unprecedented time in terms of Britain helping people who are caught in desperate jeopardy,” he said.

“We have a duty to welcome these people—often they are caught in desperate jeopardy, but equally we have a duty to house them appropriately and to work with local people.

“The Home Office is trying very hard now to stop the excessive use of hotels and find different ways of placing them in appropriate places in the community. And that is something that the Home Office will achieve.”

PA Media contributed to this report.