A 33-year-old man who has been charged with raping a woman in a Skegness park late at night was staying at a taxpayer-funded hotel believed to be housing migrants.
The man was charged with raping a woman 16 years of age or over and is due to enter a plea at Lincoln Crown Court on July 17.
He was remanded in custody following an appearance at Lincoln Magistrates Court on June 12.
The man had reportedly arrived in the UK just 40 days earlier after crossing the Channel in a dinghy, The Sun reports.
A Lincolnshire Police spokesman said: ‘Officers were called to the Tower Gardens area of Skegness just after 10.40pm on Friday, June 9 to a report of a sexual assault.’
Skegness MP Matt Warman shared the police appeal on social media and said: ‘The news that a man staying in Skegness has been charged with rape is hugely shocking, and understandably has raised a number of significant concerns.
‘I echo Lincolnshire Police’s appeal for witnesses or anyone who was in the Tower Gardens area of Skegness between 10pm and 11pm on Friday, June 9.
‘Anyone with information that will assist in inquiries must get in touch.’
Lincolnshire Police said its investigation remains ongoing and specialist officers are working with the victim.
Investigators are appealing for witnesses or anyone who was in the Tower Gardens area of Skegness between 10pm and 11pm on Friday, June 9, who may have information that will assist in its inquiries to get in touch.
Anyone with information that may assist with Lincolnshire Police ‘s investigation is advised to contact them on 101 or email [email protected], quoting incident 560 9/6/23.
A spokeswoman from the Home Office told MailOnline: ‘We do not comment on ongoing legal proceedings.’
Skegness hoteliers are said to receive more than £10,000 a week to close their doors to tourists and house migrants instead.
‘Those owners who have accepted the Home Office money tend not to live in the area,’ Ross Richardson, events manager at the Savoy hotel, which rejected the offer, previously told the Mail on Sunday.
‘We turned it down because the owner is local and doesn’t want it to impact on tourism. Overall in this town you’ve got 400 beds taken up with migrants and these are block-booked for another year at least.
