Man tried to kiss schoolgirl, court told

A man tried to kiss a schoolgirl as she ate pizza near a busy High Street, a court heard.

Hadush Kebatu, an asylum seeker from Ethiopia, is accused of propositioning the girl while she was eating in the town centre of Epping in Essex.

It allegedly happened on 7 July - eight days after the 41-year-old arrived in the UK via a boat.

Chelmsford Magistrates' Court was told on Thursday that Mr Kebatu, of High Road in Epping, had denied three sexual offences, harassment and inciting a girl to engage in sexual activity.

The allegations led to two MPs - Neil Hudson, Conservative MP for Epping Forest and Alex Burghart, Conservative MP for Brentwood and Ongar - as well as the leader of Epping Forest District Council to call for a hotel housing asylum seekers in the town to be closed.

Mr Kebatu appeared in the dock for a case management hearing and was told he would face a two-day trial from 26 August.

Prosecutors alleged Mr Kebatu asked the schoolgirl for some pizza as she ate near Epping High Street.

It was alleged on 8 July Mr Kebatu had also tried to kiss an adult near a fish and chip shop in the town centre, also telling her she was "pretty" while putting his hand on her leg.

He then encountered the girl again on 8 July and tried to kiss her, the court was told.

The defendant shook his head at times from the dock and clutched a bible as the prosecution case was outlined.

Speaking through an interpreter, he said: "I never done [this] and I am an honest and decent person."

Tia Ojo, defending, said Mr Kebatu denied all elements of what the prosecution said.

During his first court appearance, it was said that Mr Kebatu arrived in the UK on 29 June 2025 and that he was "a refugee or asylum seeker".

He was remanded in custody until the trial at Chelmsford Magistrates' Court.

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