A man has been jailed for almost three years after throwing a beer bottle at a police van during clashes at an asylum protest in Epping, Essex. Keith Silk, 34, armed himself with eggs and the bottle before attending the demonstration outside The Bell Hotel on 17 July 2025. Up to 500 people gathered after a migrant living there, Hadush Kebatu, was charged with and later jailed for sex offences. The protest began peacefully, prosecutors said, but at about 17:30 BST it escalated into large-scale public disorder. Clashes broke out when about 50 counter-demonstrators arrived and both groups came together. Silk, from Torrington Drive, Loughton, was found guilty of violent disorder and criminal damage. At Chelmsford Crown Court, the judge said he had threatened officers, and that one officer suffered injuries to their neck during the clashes. The court heard Silk told an officer, “We’re supporting a rightful cause. You’re protecting these wrong uns, mate.” Prosecutors said he also warned, “It’s going to get worse, anyway. All the English Defence League are coming down.” Judge Alexander Mills said Silk threw a bottle at a police van and may have accidentally struck a fellow protester with one of his eggs. He was also filmed trying but failing to pull The Bell Hotel sign from the ground. Silk received a sentence of two years and 11 months. The case is part of a wider round of sentencing for the same day’s clashes, with him the 11th person sentenced for involvement and the 10th to be jailed.