Two-Tier Justice on Full Display as Epping Protesters Get Longer Sentences Than Sex Attacker Whose Crime They Were Protesting

Two-tier justice was on full display as three Epping protesters received longer prison sentences than the asylum seeker whose sex attack on a child they were protesting about, says the Daily Sceptic‘s Laurie Wastell in the Telegraph. Here’s an excerpt.

Three men have been sentenced to prison time over their role in a migrant hotel protest in Epping, Essex, this summer. The protests, which sparked similar demonstrations around the country, began after sexual assaults by a recently arrived asylum seeker being housed at the local Bell Hotel.

Having each pleaded guilty to violent disorder, Dean Smith was handed down one year and 10 months, Martin Peagram received two years and two months, and Stuart Williams received two years and four months.

Many will compare these stiff sentences with the mere 12-month sentence handed down to Hadush Kebatu, the Ethiopian migrant whose sexual assault of a child sparked the protests, and think something has gone awry in the priorities of the justice system. Why is an angry response to a migrant sex crime treated more seriously than the appalling crime itself?

One reason seems to be an alleged racist intent behind the protest. Their actions, which included kicking a police van door, climbing on the roof of the hotel and ringing its bell, and “shoulder [charging]” the police line and adopting an “aggressive, boxer-like stance”, were “motivated by hostilities to a racial group or a perceived racial group”, said the prosecution.

Judge Jamie Sawyer agreed, saying he was “satisfied that this was racially motivated at least in part”. He appeared to admonish the men for having “wished for the asylum seekers to be removed from the area”, adding: “You didn’t wait for due process to run its course, you wanted to take matters into your own hands.”

Essex Police, which policed the protests, have issued statements condemning the men’s disorderly behaviour. “Officers had been trying their utmost to fulfil our lawful duty, which is to facilitate protest and counter-protest,” said Chief Superintendent Simon Anslow, adding that the men were “intent on escalating a peaceful protest into dangerous violence”.

However, there have been many questions raised over the police’s own role in escalating the events of that evening. The protest on July 17th began peacefully, and it was only after the arrival of around 50 ‘Stand Up to Racism’ counter-protesters, who shouted ‘anti-fascist’ slogans at locals, that disorder began. Some residents involved said they felt police were almost forcing a ‘confrontation’ between the two groups.

How did the counter-protesters get there? As the Telegraph revealed, Essex Police had in fact escorted the counter-protesters into the middle of the locals (an extraordinary decision which the force had initially denied). “It’s an absolute disgrace”, said Reform leader Nigel Farage, saying that “heads must roll”.

The only heads to have rolled, of course, are those of the protesters.

Worth reading in full.