Police pelted with eggs and beer in Epsom protest over ‘gang rape ‘
Hundreds of people marched through Epsom despite police insisting they had found no evidence of a gang rape offence or that asylum seekers were involved.
Dozens of people, some riding motorbikes, shut down Epsom town centre in Surrey on Monday night.
Some started throwing eggs at a block of flats and a Travelodge, mistakenly believed by protesters to hold asylum seekers. But police denied the misinformation.
Shortly after riot police charged them down, pinning one man to the floor.
Eggs and a beer can were hurled at the police line as people shouted ‘You are going to start a riot’.
Sign up for all of the latest stories
Start your day informed with Metro's News Updates newsletter or get Breaking News alerts the moment it happens.
They made four arrests.
A Surrey Police Spokesman said: ‘Police are in attendance at an organised protest in Epsom which has escalated to public disorder, including missiles being thrown at them.
‘Officers have surrounded a residential property and nearby hotels after they were targeted by protesters purporting that they were locations housing those seeking asylum.
‘This is not the case and is wholly inaccurate information. The escalating behaviour of some of the protesters and the threat to officer safety has required officers to put on full protective public order uniform.
They added: ‘Currently we have made four arrests, and we will continue to deal with criminal offences and public disorder, taking robust action against anyone who commits a criminal offence.’
It came after detectives investigating an alleged rape of a woman outside of a church after she left a nightclub said there is no evidence the incident took place as reported or that any immigrants or asylum seekers were involved.
Source: w8media
(Credits: w8media)
Surrey police said earlier this week a woman in her 20s reported being attacked by a group of men on her way home from Labyrinth night club in the early hours of Saturday outside Epsom Methodist Church.
They added the rape was believed to have taken place between 2am and 4am and left the victim ‘very shaken’.
But Surrey Police said in their latest statement: ‘We are aware that speculation and concern about the report we received remains, and we reiterate that our enquiries remain ongoing.
‘These enquiries have included reviewing an extensive amount of CCTV footage from the area, carrying out forensics investigations and conducting house-to-house enquiries. To date, we have not found any evidence that the offence took place as reported.’