Thames Magistrates’ Court heard that Channay Augustus came to a hotel being used to house asylum seekers armed with a meat cleaver after finding a migrant in her mum’s home
A woman armed herself with a meat cleaver and tried to force her way into a hotel housing asylum seekers after one of its residents walked into her blind mother’s flat, a court has heard.
Channay Augustus was allegedly part of a group of about 20 people who tried to barge into the Britannia Hotel in Canary Wharf, east London, on Wednesday evening. The 22-year-old was alleged to have joined a group of protesters after she discovered a migrant inside her mother’s flat a five-minute walk away from the hotel, Thames Magistrates’ Court was told.
The court heard Augustus had chased the man away after finding him “moving his hand” over his genital area, and rushed to the hotel at around 6am.
The court had also heard she confronted a security guard at the site who tried to calm her down. She left before allegedly returning a short time later with a meat cleaver, which she is said to have started banging on a metal barrier outside the hotel.
The court was told she had also shouted “f****** asylum seekers”. Augustus was later arrested at her home. During a hearing on Friday, her lawyer indicated she would deny possession of an offensive weapon, affray, assault on an emergency worker and common assault.
She admitted to possession of cannabis. The migrant who entered her flat, who is in his early 20s, was arrested earlier today on suspicion of common assault, the Metropolitan Police said in an update.
A spokesperson for the service told the London Evening standard: “We can confirm that this is the man who allegedly entered the flat. He is now in police custody.”
The hotel has been the focus of protests in recent weeks, with waves of anti-migrant protesters and pro-migrant counter-protesters having descended on the site.
Arrests have been made this week, police have confirmed, with one being an anti-migrant protester alleged to have thrown a bottle at officers, and another being a counter-protester who was arrested after failing to remove a face covering.
Augustus, of Tower Hamlets, was remanded into custody to appear at Snaresbrook Crown Court on September 12.