BBC: 'I am not a wild animal', man accused of Epping assault tells court

BBC ^ | BBC

[RandFan]

Hadush Kebatu, who is accused of sexual assaults in Epping, Essex, says he is "not a wild animal" while giving evidence in his trial

"I can't do these kind of things," he tells Colchester Magistrates' Court, adding: "I am a Christian, it's not in my culture"

Earlier, a woman told the same court she was "shocked" when Kebatu allegedly put his hand on her thigh - here's what else we heard from the witness

Kebatu, from Ethiopia, denies all five charges against him, including sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl, harassment and inciting a child into sexual activity

Allegations of the incident led to a wave of anti-immigration protests and counter-demonstrations outside The Bell Hotel, where Kebatu was staying as an asylum seeker

'You are a sexual predator', prosecutor tells Kebatu

“She is the only instigator and she put them all into this," Kebatu says of the woman who called the police on 8 July.

A reminder that he is also accused of sexually assaulting her.

Ending his questioning, Mr Cowen says: "You are a sexual predator who tried to assault one girl and one woman in exactly the same way.

"That is the truth, isn't it?"

Kebatu responds: "I am not such a person. I can't do these kind of things."

With that, the questioning ends and he is taken back into the dock.

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TOPICS: Chit/Chat; Conspiracy
KEYWORDS: asylumseeker; dundeestarmer; epping; essex; ethiopia; hadushkebatu; pakilickspittles; sezhesachristian; twotierkeir; unitedkingdom

[RandFan]

I cannot really comment but these allegations are why parents are so concerned with the local asylum hotels and protesting them

[AppyPappy]

The fact that he says he “can’t” do it tells me he is guilty.

[MtnClimber]

It seems he may just be practicing taqiyya.

[Jamestown1630]

Statistically, an Ethiopian is more likely to be a Christian.

[Organic Panic]

He is just doing what his culture back home allows. The king’s court will let him go because “he didn’t know sexually assaulting women is wrong. “

[kiryandil]

He should get his case transferred to Dundee, where there are no men, and the bobbies are de-nutted when they hire on as Paki lickspittles.

[MtnClimber]

Statistically, an Ethiopian is more likely to be a Christian.

True, but Christian to muslim is about 2/1 or 60%/30%. I don't know if rape is just a common practice in Ethiopia or not.

[Williams]

You have to follow the link and read several pages of the articles to see the testimony about what he did and said to the girls which sounds extremely inappropriate.

He didn’t get to do anything too extreme physically but he was touching their hair and asking them to kiss him and talking about wanting them to go back to the hotel with him and have babies.

Also sounds like when he was confronted he was knowledgeable enough to start begging that it was a mistake and to please not call the police. I think he did this over a period of at least 2 days also.

[GOPJ]

The problem with people leaving third world hellholes is they bring their culture with them...

Which makes the rest of us wonder which came first - the chicken or the egg. Maybe the laws and religions are draconian BECAUSE of the people in that region or maybe it’s the egg.

[Jamestown1630]

As the official religion is Christian, I would think the main national values are too.

But there are nominal Christian rapists in every country.

[MtnClimber]

He has multiple accusers so this is not likely to be a false claim.

[x]

Save it for the prison auditions for “The Elephant Man” ...

[Jamestown1630]

I don’t have an opinion; I just objected to the suggestion of ‘taqiyya’. (Besides, it’s mainly a practice among Shia Muslims; the ones in Ethiopia are Sunni.)

All sorts of people lie. It’s not an exclusive habit of Muslims.

[MtnClimber]

All sorts of people lie. It’s not an exclusive habit of Muslims.

Yes all sorts of people lie. In the koran, allah is portrayed as "the master of deception" so lying is raised to a religious level of admiration no matter what their sect chooses to call it. I obviously don't know the details of this individual, but with five accusers (who he denies) I have reason to doubt his claim to Christianity since he is acting just like many muslim immigrants. In any case, he should have no claim to asylum if he is really from Ethiopia and should be sent back after his prison sentence if he is convicted.