Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu is accused of attempting to kiss a 14-year-old girl. Photo / CPS
An asylum seeker in the UK accused of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl has defended his actions during a trial.
Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu allegedly told the teenager that she would be a “good wife” and that he wanted her to go back with him to the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, to “have babies then ... go to Kenya”.
Kebatu, who previously told the court his age was 38, is accused of attempting to kiss the girl, putting his hand on her thigh and brushing her hair last month.
He has now claimed a woman who intervened told him “you are handsome, I want you to come to my house”.
Asked by his defence lawyer Molly Dyas how drunk the woman was, Kebatu said she “had two bottles in her hand”.
He said the woman gave him a piece of paper with her telephone number and said “you are very handsome – you need to come to my house, we need to have [a] connection”.
“She was angry and she said you’re talking to students so if you fail to come I will call the police,” Kebatu told his trial at Colchester Magistrates’ Court in Essex.
In a video played in court, Kebatu, who was wearing a blue tracksuit top, appeared to become tearful as he was handcuffed by an officer arresting him on suspicion of sexual assault.
The officer said: “Don’t cry, it’s going to be okay.”
Kebatu got down on his knees and was told to “stand up”.
In court, Dyas asked Kebatu if he tried to kiss the 14-year-old girl.
Speaking through an interpreter, he replied: “I’m not a wild animal. I can’t do these kind of things. These are children, new generation.”
In court, he said he told a member of the public that he was sorry. Asked why footage showed him on his knees saying sorry, the defendant said: “At that time she was drunk, she was very agitated and I just wanted to calm her.
“I was going to the Bell Hotel at that time and I was worried about the ramifications on the other immigrants.”
The defendant said he had been living in the hotel for around a week before his arrest, having travelled through Sudan, Libya, Italy and France in order to get to the UK.
Kebatu denied touching the 14-year-old girl on July 7 and 8, saying: “She more or less could be my daughter, she’s very young. I can’t do that – I’m not a wild animal.”
He rejected claims he told the girl to kiss her 14-year-old friend, telling the court: “No I didn’t say that, I can’t do these kind of things, this is anti-Christian – these are just children, innocent children.”
The court heard he had paid around €2500 ($5000) to come to the UK on a rubber dinghy.
On the second day of his trial, police interviews with male friends of the alleged victim were played in court.
One of the teenager’s friends, a 14-year-old boy, said Kebatu was “staring at us the whole time”, adding: “We went into Tesco and he was following us.”
In footage played to the court, the witness said Kebatu had informed him that he paid about €2500 to “get on a rubber dinghy to come to our country”.
Another 14-year-old boy told police that the migrant had described two of his teenage female friends as “pretty” and “asked for a kiss from them both”.
The boy said they gave Mr Kebatu a slice of pizza on July 7 and then the man “asked to have babies with [the 14-year-old girl] and this other girl, then he asked for a kiss from both of them”.
The witness added: “He just said they’re pretty and he also said do you want to come to the Bell Hotel to have babies, then we could go to Kenya with each other.”
Describing a comment the man allegedly made to a girl in the group, the boy said: “The geezer said ‘come back to Africa, you would be a good wife’.”
A member of the public also alleges that Kebatu tried to kiss her, put his hand on her leg and tell her she was pretty on July 8 after she had engaged in conversation.
The alleged incidents provoked protests and counter-protests outside the Bell Hotel. Similar protests have been held outside hotels across the country housing asylum seekers.
Kebatu denies two counts of sexual assault, one count of attempted sexual assault, one count of inciting a girl to engage in sexual activity and one count of harassment without violence.
The trial continues.
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