Woman guilty of affray at asylum seeker hotel

Police had a presence at the Britannia Hotel due to protests

A woman accused of forcing her way into an east London hotel housing asylum seekers while carrying a meat cleaver has admitted affray.

Channay Augustus, 22, was allegedly part of a group of around 20 people who tried to barge into the Britannia Hotel in Canary Wharf, east London, on 13 August.

An earlier court hearing was told the trouble started when she discovered a migrant inside her blind mother's flat, a five-minute walk from the hotel.

Augustus, of Tower Hamlets, appeared at Snaresbrook Crown Court by videolink on Friday where she pleaded guilty to affray and not guilty to threatening another person with a blade and assaulting an emergency worker.

Affray is a public order offence where two or more people use or threaten unlawful violence.

It is alleged that after chasing the man away from her mother's flat, Augustus went to the hotel at about 18:00 BST where she confronted a security guard who was trying her calm her down.

The court was told she returned a short time later with a meat cleaver and started banging it on a metal barrier outside the hotel.

Her trial was set for 29 June 2026 at Snaresbrook Crown Court.