An angry confrontation and online abuse: Inside the asylum protests in a divided town

The footage filmed by the woman was seen by millions of people

We were filming an interview on the outskirts of a public park in Falkirk when a woman approached.

"Can I just ask why you're encouraging these men to sit in this park?" she asked while recording the exchange on her phone.

The man we were speaking to for our latest Disclosure documentary was living in a nearby asylum hotel, where angry protests had been taking place since the summer.

The woman said men from the hotel had been following local children, and asked us to take our interview elsewhere.

At this point, a group of asylum seekers who we hadn't noticed playing football nearby appeared over the hill.

She told me it was my fault they were there and if "anything happens here, you've got it on your head".

The woman uploaded her video to the internet. It was viewed millions of times after being shared by right wing influencers such as Tommy Robinson.

She was hailed a hero for standing up for women and children.

I was deluged with abuse and warned that I should stay out of Falkirk.

I don't believe my interview with this man, who later withdrew consent for its use, put anyone in danger.

But this encounter, and its aftermath, gave me perhaps the sharpest insight yet into the fear some within the town - and beyond – have about asylum seekers in their communities.

Asylum seekers have been housed at the hotel since 2021

There are about 6,300 people seeking asylum in Scotland, many of whom arrived via small boats across the channel.

About a quarter live in hotels while the UK government decides whether to give them sanctuary.

We've spent the last few months filming at protests against the hotels around the country.

In Falkirk, there are more than 11,000 names on the housing list, waiting for new homes. There is anger at a perception that these men – and it is only men in the Cladhan Hotel - have jumped the queue.

Asylum seekers are not generally permitted to work while their claims are being processed and get an allowance of £1.42 a day to live on. With free meals, accommodation and no bills to pay, it sticks in the throats of some.

Kevin, a regular protester, told me: "They're getting telly, they're getting warmth, they're getting clothing, they're getting phones, they're getting free healthcare and if you think that's right in our country right now, I don't."

Mobiles phones are not provided by the state but are often given to Cladhan residents by charities who support them.

Regular protests have taken place outside the Cladhan Hotel

The men in the Cladhan come from a range of countries, including Iran, Sudan and Eritrea, and all claim they need sanctuary from persecution.

Occasionally we could see them peering out from behind closed curtains, as chants of "Send them home! Send them home!" ricocheted through the streets.

The Cladhan was once a favoured placed for wedding receptions, anniversaries and birthday parties.

No warning was given or consultation held with the local community that up to 90 asylum seekers were going to be housed here in 2021.

Trevor Phillips, former chair of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission, told me communities should not be "denigrated" for their anger.

He said there was "a feeling that something is being dropped on them from 10,000ft by people who neither know nor care what the impact is going to be".

All the costs of housing asylum seekers in hotels, about £2.1bn a year across the UK, are met by the UK government.

Falkirk Council's leader, SNP councillor Cecil Meiklejohn, said no asylum seeker was given priority over anyone else.

Sarah Jane Waugh is part of a group which wants the Cladhan Hotel closed

But it's not just pressure on services which has got people out on the streets. There is fear, too.

Former Cladhan resident Sadeq Nikzad, from Afghanistan, was jailed in June for the rape of a 15-year-old local girl.

Sarah Jane Waugh, part of the Falkirk Pink Ladies group which wants the hotel closed, told us it "killed me to know that that girl's life was ruined".

"We shouldn't be walking about in fear," she added.

In 2023, the year of Nikzad's crime, there were 82 reports of rape or attempted rape in Falkirk.

Police Scotland says it does not hold records detailing whether offenders are asylum seekers or not.

From media reports, it appears one was committed by an asylum seeker that year - by Nikzad.

Barbara Cashley, another Pink Lady, said: "Scottish men do this too, but the fact is that the boats are still coming. They [the asylum seekers] have a different belief."

There is a feeling among some, perhaps based in part on perceptions around how other cultures treat women, that asylum seekers are more likely to carry out sex attacks.

Part of Nikzad's legal defence was that he didn't understand what was and was not allowed due to cultural differences between the UK and Afghanistan.

At one protest in September, a woman shouts into a megaphone: "We don't want these immigrants in here! They're raping our children!"

The woman who confronted me in Falkirk's Callendar Park said that asylum seekers had been harassing children there, and that "umpteen kids had been followed".

It was also rumoured that children had been filmed.

Police Scotland told us there had been no incidents reported in Callendar Park in relation to asylum seekers and no crimes recorded to date.

They said they had received some calls about Asian men behaving suspiciously on their phones, but officers had attended and on all occasions the men's actions were found to be innocent.

Connor Graham runs a group which organises the Falkirk protests

The main organiser of the Falkirk protests is the group Save Our Kids and Our Kids Future, which sprung up in response to Nikzad's crime.

It is run by Falkirk resident Connor Graham, who has convictions for violence, including biting a police officer.

The protests are often heated affairs - heavily policed, with counter protesters on the other side.

They give an impression of a town divided.

The anti-asylum protesters accuse the other side of "bussing in" support, while they are called "Nazis" and "fascists" by the counter-protesters.

There has been racism, white supremacist posters and what appears to be Nazi salutes.

We've tried for months to interview Mr Graham, but he told us he had "no trust that a filmed interview would represent me honestly".

In a statement he told us he never condoned any racist or Nazi behaviour at the protests.

In the local Mosque, the Imam, Dr Zaheer Qadri, told us he no longer went outside wearing his religious clothing.

He said he felt "uncomfortable and unsafe" and that the Mosque had been pelted with eggs on one of the protest days.

Mr Graham has previously said the protests were not about race or religion.

However, we have seen a message posted publicly by his group, since deleted, which described the men living in asylum hotels as "evil due to their religions".

The post said: "I'm not racist at all… What I do not believe in is the fact they are pushing a religion on our country."

In a message sent privately, Mr Graham said he was worried "Islamists" would "take over our country".

He described Islam as "poison" and said "anyone who agrees with their way needs to go and live in their country too".

Mr Graham said allegations he'd made Islamophobic posts were "wrong".

He said: "Criticism of government policy, immigration issues or community safety is not the same as attacking a religion. I have never promoted hatred towards any faith group."

Kevin Doyle was falsely named by protesters as a convicted sex offender

Sometimes during the protests, asylum seekers are seen entering the hotel, and they are subjected to torrents of abuse, including being called paedophiles.

Men on the counter-protest side, which is organised by the local group Falkirk For All, are also often labelled paedophiles.

Kevin Doyle was falsely named by protesters as a convicted sex offender, with one woman live streaming on TikTok that he would be "lynched" that night.

"They were going to smash my windows, set the house on fire and they were going to slit my throat," he said.

A group turned up at his home that evening, screaming "paedo" from across the street. Police were called and dispersed the crowd.

The next day, Mr Graham's group's public page, which has thousands of followers, posted Kevin's picture beside that of the other man, a convicted offender, saying they were the same person.

The post stated the counter protesters were "standing shoulder to shoulder with a convicted predator… this isn't scaremongering… this is FACT!"

There have been counter-protests to the demonstrations in Falkirk

Kevin says the post was up for more than an hour before it was removed. No clarification or apology was offered.

He said: "This group haven't made my community any safer for me. They've done the opposite and effectively put a target on my back."

Mr Graham said the post had been made in error by another and the group "rectified it within 20 minutes of it being posted".

Women on the counter-protest side have described the atmosphere at protests as "vile" and "misogynistic".

Laura Murtagh, an independent local councillor and part of the counter-protest group Falkirk For All, said: "I've never felt unsafe in the way I feel unsafe at these protests."

She said men had shouted things like: "Wait till it's your turn to be raped."

"I'm a survivor myself. That's not what you say if you care about women and children's safety," she said.

Mr Graham said he did not condone any abuse.

He said: "If isolated individuals turned up and acted on their own, that is on them not on me."

John Watt has convictions for domestic abuse against two former partners

One regular speaker at the protests is John Watt.

He runs a podcast called Bring The Noise, and has filmed himself interviewing women about their safety around the asylum hotels.

It emerged that Mr Watt has convictions from 2018 for domestic abuse against two former partners.

One of Mr Watt's ex partners, Laura Shearer, has decided to speak out for the first time.

She told me: "People need to know what he's actually like. What he's done."

Ms Shearer, who has two children with Mr Watt, left him in 2015 after he grabbed her by throat.

"He was a bully. He was a narcissist and his temper would go from one to 100 in a matter of seconds," she said.

Laura Shearer described Watt as a hypocrite

Watt was convicted for multiple counts of assault on Ms Shearer and another woman, and sentenced to 300 hours of community service.

She had seen some of Watt's YouTube videos at the protests and described him as "a hypocrite".

"How can he ask these women if they feel safe when he's done what he's done to women?" she said.

"In my opinion, it's him that these women should be scared of."

Mr Watt did not respond to requests for comment.

Into winter, numbers at the protests have dwindled - but they still continue.

Asylum hotels, like the one in Falkirk, are to close.

The UK government has also announced a raft of new policies designed to reduce numbers of those seeking refuge here.

Some of those protesting will see this as a victory.

But will a solution be found to help bring communities like Falkirk back together?