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<\/p>\nA man accused of violent disorder at an anti-asylum protest at The Bell Hotel was described at his trial as the “man who runs the local football team” who “went along as a pillar of the community”.<\/p>\n
Defence barrister Tony Wyatt said in his closing speech that Lee Gower had questioned why he had been pushed by a police officer during the protest in Epping, Essex, on 17 July.<\/p>\n
The barrister told Chelmsford Crown Court that the 43-year-old Gower, of Epping, had “every reason to be” at the protest outside hotel, which was the scene of ongoing protests last summer.<\/p>\n
Judge Alexander Mills has begun summing up evidence in the case to jurors as the trial continues.<\/p>\n
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A wave of protests were staged outside The Bell Hotel during summer 2025 [PA Media]<\/p>\n
Gower denies violent disorder and assaulting a police officer during the protest and is on trial alongside Phillip Curson, 53, of Upminster in east London, who denies violent disorder.<\/p>\n
Wyatt told the court that Gower had been to two protests before the protest on the day in question.<\/p>\n
Gower “went along as a pillar of the community” and the defence barrister described him as “the man who runs the local football team”.<\/p>\n
He said there was no trouble before counter-protesters from Stand Up To Racism turned up.<\/p>\n
“This wasn’t, you might think, a racist protest,” said Wyatt.<\/p>\n
“It was a protest about a very specific and very valid issue.”<\/p>\n
He said police put in a cordon with “no announcement”.<\/p>\n
The court heard Gower had asked a police officer “why are you pushing me?” and that the force he used was “in self-defence and it was most certainly reasonable”.<\/p>\n
Wyatt said the defendant kicked out at a police van that nearly hit him, adding: “He had a natural human response.<\/p>\n
“I suggest to you nothing you see from this man is violence.”<\/p>\n
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Police body-worn footage allegedly showed Phillip Curson, 53, shoving an officer during a protest in Epping [Essex Police]<\/p>\n
Stefan Bisson, defence counsel for Curson, said in his closing speech that footage showed police “pushing back those local protesters” after counter-protesters arrive.<\/p>\n
“You will see there’s an elderly man holding a cigarette who’s pushed,” Bisson told the court.<\/p>\n
He said that “in the heat of everything” Curson pushed a police officer, and that he had acted in self-defence and in defence of others.<\/p>\n
When Curson kicked out, it “didn’t land” and described it as a “theatrical kick”, Bisson said.<\/p>\n
“He says he didn’t intend to hurt him,” the defence barrister added.<\/p>\n
“It was just a show of bravado.”<\/p>\n
Prosecutor Sam Willis said in his closing speech that the case was “not about the rights and wrongs of the protests taking place in Epping on the day in question”.<\/p>\n
“It’s also not about the reasons for the protests taking place,” he added.<\/p>\n
He said the case was about the offences charged on the indictment.<\/p>\n
Willis told jurors that they saw in videos that Gower threw an object at counter-protesters, rushed and grabbed things from counter-protesters, as well as grabbed police shields and kicked a police van.<\/p>\n
He also told the court that Curson “kicks out at a police officer” and “makes numerous threats of violence towards the counter-protesters”.<\/p>\n
“For both men, the videos show them being the aggressors and no plausible reason for them to think they were under attack or about to be,” he continued.<\/p>\n
He said Gower “quite simply wants to get towards the counter-protesters” and “pushes and grapples with police officers trying to keep the two groups apart”.<\/p>\n
“Both [defendants] appear intent on breaking through it [the cordon] to get to the counter-protesters up the road,” he said.<\/p>\n
The trial continues.<\/p>\n
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