Police sent to wrong hotel in disorder, study says

Police officers dealing with a hotel housing asylum seekers that was being targeted by far-right protesters were mistakenly sent to the wrong hotel, a report has revealed.

The group had gathered to demonstrate in Castle Park, Bristol, during the unrest on 3 August last year before moving to the Mercure Hotel in Redcliffe.

However, according to the report, Avon and Somerset Police officers were given "incorrect information" and sent to a Holiday Inn instead, leaving it "unguarded" as anti-immigration protesters gathered.

Deputy Chief Constable Jon Reilly said: "Officers were deployed outside the Mercure Hotel throughout the evening before they were briefly used to support colleagues nearby where the risk was deemed greater."

The report, called Understanding the 2024 Summer Riots in the UK, was led by academics from the University of Sussex and examined disorder in Bristol, Hanley, in Stoke-on-Trent, and Tamworth.

Its authors gathered information from news outlets, social media posts and interviews.

The widespread unrest across England came in the days after the fatal stabbing of three children in Southport, when misinformation was circulated online that the attacker was a Muslim asylum seeker.

Information about a Bristol protest appeared in the days before and described a march towards Redcliff Hill, where the Mercure Hotel was.

At the time, the hotel was accommodating more than 300 asylum seekers, of which more than half were children, according to the report.

The report said there had been clashes in other parts of the city including Castle Park and Bristol Bridge before anti-immigration protesters made their way to the Mercure.

Although there had been a police presence at the hotel earlier, a police support unit was sent to Castle Park before being redeployed to protect asylum seekers and hotel staff but were "given incorrect information and sent to a Holiday Inn hotel instead", the report said.

Asylum seekers in the hotel "looked on from windows" as about 60 anti-immigration protesters gathered outside the building at 19:55 BST.

The hotel was put into lockdown as counter-protesters stood outside the hotel and linked arms to protect its entrance.

A small number of police officers were in attendance as more protesters arrived but were "heavily outnumbered"

"They... sent a message to their Bronze commander requesting immediate assistance as groups of anti-immigrant participants began to physically assault them to get at the counter-protesters and the hotel entrance," the report said.

It added: "For around 10 minutes, the main body of the counter-protesters came under concerted attack including missiles being thrown, kicks and punches, and racist and homophobic abuse."

The additional police units joined the four officers at the scene half an hour after the first protesters had gathered outside the hotel.

A police eyewitness said it had been in the "top five most violent incidents" they had witnessed in their 25-year career.

In conclusion, the report deemed the unrest to be "riots rather than protests" and called it the "biggest outbreak of disorder in the UK since 2011".

Deputy Chief Constable Reilly called the events "an incredibly complex and dynamic policing operation" and said 44 people had been sentenced for their involvement in the disorder.

"Hundreds of police officers, many of whom came in to work on a day off, put themselves in harm's way throughout the course of Saturday 3 August to protect the public," he said.

"Each and every one of them deserves enormous credit for their actions that day, which were carried out in the face of disgraceful violence and abuse."

He said officers who had been at the hotel and were then deployed to help colleagues who needed support nearby, returned "within minutes".

"Despite being faced with disgusting physical and verbal abuse, they showed immense courage in protecting the public," he added.

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