Football Coach Sentenced for Violence at Asylum Hotel Protest
A youth football coach who engaged in violent behavior against police officers during a protest outside an asylum hotel has been sentenced to two years and nine months in prison.
Lee Gower, 43, was part of a crowd of up to 500 people gathered outside The Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, on 17 July last year.
At Chelmsford Crown Court, it was revealed that Gower was driven by "hostility" towards asylum seekers and had accused both them and the police of being paedophiles.
The father of two, who resides in Epping, was found guilty of violent disorder in April and received his sentence on Thursday.
Background of the Protest
The demonstration was triggered by the arrest and subsequent imprisonment of asylum seeker Hadush Kebatu, who lived at the hotel and was convicted of sexually assaulting two individuals.
Prosecutor Sam Willis explained that the protest began peacefully but escalated after approximately 50 counter-demonstrators arrived around 17:30 BST, leading to confrontations.
He stated that police officers, tasked with keeping the opposing groups apart, encountered "large-scale acts of violence" from a group that included Gower, who also coaches his son's football team.
Gower was involved in pushing, shoving, and kicking officers, and additionally threw a large barrier at a police van.
"You adopted a fighting or boxing stance with your fists still clenched," Judge Alexander Mills told the defendant.
The judge noted that Gower's conduct was "clearly far removed from peaceful protest" and that he intentionally joined a "mob" before fleeing to Gloucester in an unsuccessful attempt to evade arrest.
"If your actions by the side of a football pitch are anything like your actions that day, that raises real concerns," the judge added.
Defense and Sentencing
Tony Wyatt, representing Gower, described him as a "well-liked" community member who had taken his concerns about asylum seekers in Epping too far.
Gower is the latest individual to be sentenced for the violent disorder that occurred on 17 July, following three others who were sentenced in October.
During that earlier case, prosecutors revealed that the total cost of policing the anti-immigration protests and counter-demonstrations outside the hotel amounted to £1.54 million.
A statement from a senior police officer, read to the court, emphasized the severity of the disorder:
"In my 20 years of policing, I have never witnessed this scale of disorder in Essex - and certainly not in a town like Epping."
Gower's co-defendant, Phillip Curson, 53, from Upminster in east London, was also found guilty of violent disorder and is scheduled to be sentenced on 14 August.
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