Woman denies blocking access to Stradey Park hotel where asylum seekers are due to be housed

Other Stradey Park Hotel protesters are due to appear in court on separate charges on August 10.

A woman has denied blocking access to Llanelli's Stradey Park hotel where asylum seekers are due to be housed.

Helen Thomas is charged with locking on to an object, other persons or land on July 9 with intent to cause serious disruption to those wishing to enter Stradey Park Hotel and Spa.

The 52-year-old from Furnace, near Llanelli, appeared at Llanelli Magistrates Court on Thursday.

She spoke only to confirm her name, age and date of birth and to enter a plea of not guilty.

Protestors have been demonstrating at the site of the hotel.

More than a dozen protesters and members of Save Our Stradey Park And Neighbourhood watched proceedings from the public gallery while a larger group stood outside the court while the hearing took place.

After the hearing, Ms Thomas was greeted to a round of applause from the demonstrators outside the court.

Andrew Isaac, defending Ms Thomas, said the case is “not a straightforward one” and there is much body-worn video footage of the alleged offence to examine.

District Judge Mark Layton set a date for a further case management hearing for September 28 at 10am.

Crown prosecutor Ryan Colamazza asked that the defendant be released on conditional bail.

Other Stradey Park Hotel protesters are due to appear in court on separate charges on August 10.

Hotel owner Gryphon Leisure is now seeking a High Court injunction to prevent the trespass and obstruction of the venue by protesters.A hearing on Tuesday was adjourned until 2pm on Thursday after the judge received a number of emails from local residents.

A community split across the street over the issue of housing asylum seekers in the area.

Carmarthenshire County Council lost a bid for a High Court injunction on July 7 to temporarily block plans to use the hotel to accommodate asylum seeker families, claiming it represented a “material change of use from a hotel to a hostel” and would be a “breach of planning control”.

The Welsh Refugee Coalition, a collection of organisations working with asylum seekers and refugees, has spoken out about the use of hotels as an option for accommodating asylum seekers.

Salah Rasool, the coalition's chair, told ITV Wales, “It is not a good way of respecting someone or asking them to integrate," and said there was not enough specialist support for asylum seekers in small rural Welsh communities.

Meanwhile, the UK Government has said that The Home Office is "committed to making every effort to reduce hotel use and limit the burden on the taxpayer.”

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