Asylum seeker under investigation for raping teenager ‘missing’ from Home Office hotel
A conservative MP claimed the suspected attacker is on the run
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An asylum seeker under investigation for raping a teenage boy is on the run after fleeing a Home Office-approved hotel in Buckinghamshire, it has been claimed.
Police had detained the 39-year-old man in a hotel in Waltham Forest on 5 October after reports a teenage boy had been attacked.
The suspect was taken into custody and questioned before being bailed to return on a date in early January.
The suggestion the man had gone missing was revealed by Tory MP Greg Smith during a Commons debate on Wednesday.
Mr Smith told the Commons: “Buckinghamshire Council learned third-hand from a London borough just this morning that an asylum seeker who is under investigation for a very serious offence was transferred to the asylum hotel in Buckingham.
“He was not escorted into the premises and has since gone missing.”
He continued: “That process is wholly unacceptable,” the Buckingham MP said, while asking for a commitment “that everything possible is being done to apprehend that individual and ensure that until that investigation is completed they are in secured accommodation.”
Home office minister Robert Jenrick replied: “That does sound like a very concerning incident and he has my assurance that I will raise that with the Home Office and indeed with the police and will report back to him.”
A child, under the age of 13, was also allegedly sexually assaulted at the same site in Waltham Forest.
A Home Office source said: “The bail conditions of this suspect are a matter for the police and we do not have any powers to detain him. There is no evidence he has absconded.”
Following the alleged attacks, Grace Williams, leader of Waltham Forest Council, wrote to Suella Braverman, the home secretary, to express “major concerns” at the “lack of safeguarding” at the hotel.
She added: “These are vulnerable children often moved thousands of miles placed in cramped hotels for months on end without adequate support in place.”
She said that councils were doing all they could to protect these people “with little or no warning of large numbers of asylum seekers placed in their areas”.
She said that following a meeting with Home Office officials, she was “not assured that there is a safeguarding plan in place to protect children and vulnerable adults in the hotel”.
The Independent revealed last week that multiple councils are considering legal action against the Home Office over “unsafe” hotels for asylum seekers.
Six have already sought injunctions against the use of accommodation in their areas, with leaders raising concerns about the “health and safety of the people placed in these hotels”.
The Local Government Association, a representative group for councils in England, said the status quo was “not working” and called for “urgent conversations” with the government to tackle the issue.
A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said: “A 39-year-old man was arrested at the scene and taken into custody.
“He is currently on bail pending further enquiries and must return to the police station on a date in early January.
“His accommodation status in the interim period is a matter for the Home Office, not the police.”
A Home Office spokesperson said: “If someone claiming asylum commits a criminal offence then their bail conditions would be set by the police in the usual way. Their subsequent movements would be dependent on the conditions set, and them abiding by them.
“The Home Office does not have powers to detain individuals on police bail.
“If an asylum seeker absconds before a decision is made on their asylum claim, or if they fail to comply with our processes we have a dedicated national absconder tracing team to track them down and bring them back into contact with the Home Office and their claim may be withdrawn. Full security checks are carried out before anyone enters the asylum system.”