Woken by police to be told that his car had been damaged, Ufuoma Odoh wasn’t prepared for the scene that confronted him.
The Volvo XC40, parked on the street around the corner from his London flat, was missing its rear windscreen – smashed by a television hurled out of the window of a nearby hotel room.
In the past, such loutish antics were the preserve of rich, drug-addled rock stars. Today, it’s just part of the day-to-day reality of living alongside one of the many hotels now given over to asylum seekers.
Because, as 49-year-old Mr Odoh discovered, the free board and lodging laid on courtesy of the British taxpayer is absolutely no guarantee of good behaviour.
‘At first, police searched the first two floors of the hotel, discovered no TVs were missing, and closed the case,’ the council worker explained of the incident last month.
‘Then the manager found a TV missing on the fourth floor and called the police, who arrested the person who did it. They took him to the police station and questioned him, but they claimed there was not enough proof as nobody had seen him throw the TV out of the window. I said, “But the manager told you he did it. Is that not enough?” They insisted it wasn’t.’
When Mr Odoh complained to the Home Office about what had happened, he was told that he should take the matter up with his insurers. Rather than make a claim and push up his premiums, he has now shelled out £750 of his own money to make good the damage.
And Mr Odoh is far from alone in counting the cost – financial, emotional and more – of living next to migrant lodgings.
Last weekend, The Mail on Sunday revealed the shocking scale of serious crime committed by asylum seekers living in hotels in communities across Britain.
An audit of court records found that of occupants at 70 hotels – just a third of those used – a remarkable 312 had been charged with 708 criminal offences.
Most shocking of all was the finding that one hotel alone – the three-star Thistle City Barbican in London – had seen 41 migrants listed at the address charged with more than 90 offences in the past year alone. Today, a closer analysis of those crimes paints a worrying picture of the real-life impact of placing asylum seekers – including those who have crossed the Channel in small boats – in the heart of towns and cities.
Charges brought include rape, arson, sexual assault, affray, actual bodily harm, strangulation, robbery, theft and shoplifting. Knife crime and drink and drug offences are commonplace, as are attacks on police officers going about their duties. Those accused of the crimes are all men, with the vast majority aged in their 20s and 30s. Many of those convicted are dealt with by means of suspended or community sentences. In a number of cases warrants have been issued for arrest after defendants failed to attend court hearings.
Financial penalties and costs were also often waived because the defendants were found to have ‘no means’. Given that the London hotel has recently also been identified as a hub for illegal working, some will regard that as a particular irony.
Only last month, pictures emerged of migrants, who are not permitted to work, riding off in Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats jackets to deliver food, while electric bikes were seen outside.
And, of course, as Mr Odoh, who lives near the hotel, discovered, the records only show offences that come to court. This week those who reside and work near the property told how day-to-day life in the area has been blighted by constant disturbances and antisocial behaviour.
‘This area is very, very dangerous,’ said Bledar Qirjo, who runs the Greek Grill Point restaurant. ‘My customers won’t come after 9pm because they feel scared. They see people standing outside the hotel smoking, screaming, hanging around this place.
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Other residents told of police being called around the clock and of seeing items including burning mattresses thrown out of the hotel’s windows. The threat of harassment by groups of men was a repeated concern.
At the Corner Bar in the nearby King Square estate, the landlady recalled how two weeks ago two young women sought refuge in her premises to get away from residents of the hotel, who were filming them on a camera.
‘We have been over to the hotel loads of time,’ the woman, who asked not to be named, said. ‘They say, “Once they are off the premises, we don’t care.” They hang around the square, drinking all day. Kids are scared to walk about on their own.’
The latest revelations come amid Britain’s worsening small-boats crisis, as well as fast-rising tension in communities that are home to migrant hotels.
Protests in Epping, Essex, first began outside the Bell Hotel nearly two weeks ago, after 38-year-old Ethiopian asylum seeker Hadush Kebatu was accused of sexually assaulting a schoolgirl within days of arriving in the UK on a small boat. He denies the charges.
Dozens of anti-migrant protesters then descended on another hotel in Canary Wharf after false rumours were circulated that it was being used to house those relocated from the Bell.
After last summer’s race riots, there are fears in government that the protests may spread further. Currently, 32,000 asylum seekers are housed in hotels at a cost of £3 billion per year.
The 460-room Thistle City Barbican opened its doors to migrants in November 2021, having signed an ‘exclusive use contract’ with the Government. Accounts show that the deal has brought in more than £10 million a year for the hotel, which is part of the Clermont Hotel Group. Yesterday, a spokesperson said they were unable to comment on the goings-on at the property because it ‘operates under a private booking’.
When it used to cater for paying customers, much was made of its location – the property is situated in upmarket Islington and is close to the Barbican Centre, the Museum of London and the City.
But nowadays, its proximity to popular and wealthy areas of the capital has facilitated activities other than sightseeing – something that the case of Algerian asylum seeker Hocine Bougueroua exemplifies with depressing clarity. Precisely when the 34-year-old arrived in the UK is unclear, but by last November he was living in the hotel and taking advantage of its location to pursue a life of crime.
CCTV footage captured him ‘at work’ at a city centre pub: bearded, burly and dressed in a cap and puffa jacket, he could be seen swigging his drink and waiting for an opportunity to steal a bag that its owner had briefly left on the floor by the bar.
Checking the coast was clear, he then picked up the bag – which appears to contain a laptop – and hurriedly left the premises. All in a matter of seconds.
It was clearly a well-worked routine and one that earlier this year brought him to the attention of City of London police. Having linked a number of his crimes, they first arrested Bougueroua in January, when he was charged and then bailed by the court.
Undeterred, he carried on stealing bags until he was arrested a second time a month later, when he was held on remand.
Venues targeted included The Jugged Hare, half a mile from the hotel, The Lord Raglan and the Barbican Centre – both a mile away. The total value of items stolen came to more than £10,000. He was also caught using stolen credit cards and in possession of crack cocaine, cocaine and diazepam. He pleaded guilty to a string of offences and in May was sentenced to 24 weeks’ imprisonment. Under current rules that see sentences served dramatically reduced, and taking into account time spent on remand, Bougueroua will by now have been released from prison.
Only sentences of 12 months or more trigger automatic deportation for foreign nationals, meaning by now he will be free to pursue his asylum claim – and get back to stealing bags in pubs.
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