A MIGRANT told a pal of a 14-year-old girl he allegedly sexually assaulted that he paid £2,155 to enter the UK illegally on a dingy, a court heard.
Hadush Kebatu is accused of putting his hand on the teenager’s thigh and trying to kiss her while he was living at the controversial Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex.
PAHadush Kebatu is accused of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old[/caption]
BPMHe was staying at the controversial Bell Hotel at the time[/caption]
The site has since been shut down after a bombshell High Court ruling ordered it to close.
Kebatu, from Ethiopia, made advances towards the young girl on a bench in Epping but ran away when he was confronted by an older woman during the incident in July, a court heard today.
Prosecutor Stuart Cowen told the court: “The woman was angry and confronted the defendant, saying she would call the police. He then ran off and she pursued him.
“We will see footage in which he was apologising, and gets on his knees as if to beg.
“As a result of her call, the police attended and Mr Kebatu was arrested. He was interviewed on July 9 and gave a prepared statement in which he denied any inappropriate behaviour.”
Kebatu appeared at Colchester Magistrates Court this morning wearing a grey prison-issued jumper and tracksuit and followed the proceedings through an interpreter.
He is charged with five offences between July 7 and 8, including sexual assault and harassment, all of which he denies.
This morning, the court heard from a youngster who witnessed the alleged sexual assault.
The 14-year-old said their friend appeared “uncomfortable” about Kebatu’s attempt to kiss her, so they moved to sit between them.
The child also said the migrant boasted he had “paid about 2,500 euro to get on a rubber dinghy to come to our country”.
Mr Cowen told the court that the alleged victim was with friends “on a bench eating pizza when they were approached by the defendant appearing hungry”.
He said: “They offered him some which accepted. He sat down next to [redacted] on the bench and it was said that without any encouragement he began to make inappropriate comments to her and a girlfriend.
“It is the crown’s case that he said he wanted to have a baby with each of them and attempted to kiss them.
“He invited them back to the Bell Hotel where he was resident, having recently arrived in the UK.
“His advances were rejected”, the court heard, and it was made clear that the victim was 14 years old.
The young victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the court: “He kept asking to come back with us or trying to get us to go back to the Bell Hotel with him.”
She said: “He pointed at me first and he said I want one baby from you and one from each of your friends.
“He told us as well that in his country it is normal to marry 14 year olds.”
The girl said that the defendant told her and her friends that he had arrived on a boat a few days earlier, was now living in the Bell Hotel, and was “loving it here”.
She added: “The next day he came and sat next to us again and said, ‘I want a baby from you, we could make lovely babies.’
“I kept telling him my age over and over again he just wasn’t getting it into his head.
“He kept just staring at me and giggling just doing a weird little smile.
He kept leaning in and pouting his lips at me.”
A female member of the public intervened and confronted Kebatu before calling the police, the court heard.
It is alleged that the migrant also sexually assaulted the woman who intervened by putting his hand on her leg.
The woman who confronted him told Kebatu: “You tried to kiss her, you’re a dirty paedophile. You’ve just done the same thing to me and then you have done it to a minor.”
Kebatu is said to have then carried on describing the 14-year-old as a “sexy girl”.
The incident allegedly happened eight days after Kebatu arrived in the UK on a boat across the Channel.
Mr Cowen added: “This case has attracted quite a lot of publicity because of the defendant’s circumstances however the case must be judged fairly on the evidence.”
Kebatu’s trial, which is expected to last for two days, is expected to conclude today.
An appeal against the closure of the Bell Hotel will be heard tomorrow at the High Court in London.
A temporary injunction was granted earlier this month which means that the up to 138 migrants living at the hotel must be moved elsewhere by September 12.
PAKebatu’s arrest sparked protests across the country[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
