Hampshire Man Charged After Protest Over Migrant Arrivals in Gosport

A man has been charged in connection with a demonstration in a Hampshire coastal town that followed the arrival of dozens of migrants rescued in the English Channel, police have confirmed.

Jamie Bennett, 38, of Thyme Avenue in Whiteley, near Fareham, faces a charge of failing to comply with a prohibited assembly direction. He has been released on bail and is due to appear before Portsmouth Magistrates' Court on 26 November.

The charge relates to a protest that took place on Sunday evening in Gosport, when about 150 demonstrators gathered on Haslar Road. The Home Office said 149 migrants were picked up during a mid-Channel rescue operation involving the RNLI and a French vessel before being brought ashore in the town.

The arrival appears to have acted as a flashpoint in a community that, like several other places along England's south coast, has found itself at the centre of the national debate over small boat crossings. Tensions ran high almost immediately, with flares set off and scuffles breaking out between demonstrators and officers.

According to Hampshire Constabulary, 12 people were arrested in total. Eleven of those detained were men aged between 22 and 59, while the twelfth was a 57-year-old woman. The force said suspected offences included assaulting police officers, affray and racially aggravated public order.

The remaining ten men and one woman have been bailed while further inquiries continue.

Details released by police illustrate the range of allegations under investigation. A 59-year-old man from Gosport was arrested on suspicion of racially aggravated public order, while a 39-year-old man from Emsworth was held over suspected criminal damage, attempted criminal damage and possession of a pyrotechnic article at a protest.

A 29-year-old man of no fixed address was arrested on suspicion of obstructing a highway after ambulances were reportedly prevented from travelling along Clayhall Road — a detail that underlines how quickly the situation is said to have escalated beyond a static demonstration.

Others arrested included a 42-year-old man from Fareham on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly, a 22-year-old man from Gosport on suspicion of affray and racially aggravated public order, and a 56-year-old man from Gosport on suspicion of assaulting a police officer.

A 57-year-old woman from Emsworth was also arrested on suspicion of assaulting an officer. Three further men — aged 36, 35 and 29, from Bognor Regis, Gosport and Portsmouth respectively — were detained on suspicion of assaulting police officers and failing to comply with a prohibited assembly direction, with one additionally suspected of breaching a dispersal order and another of assault by beating an emergency worker.

A 45-year-old man from Gosport was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police officer, criminal damage and being drunk and disorderly in a public place.

In addition to the arrests, five people were issued with Section 35 dispersal notices, a power that allows officers to direct individuals to leave a specified area.

Police said a small number of officers received treatment at the scene for injuries, but none were seriously hurt. The relatively limited number of injuries will be seen by the force as a relief given the size of the crowd and the reported use of flares.

Witness accounts described demonstrators standing in front of police vans to prevent them from moving forward, chanting slogans including "shame on you" and "deport the lot". Such scenes have become familiar at flashpoints along the south coast in recent months.

The migrants themselves were brought into Gosport aboard an RNLI lifeboat before being transferred by coach to a processing centre in Kent. The use of a lifeboat rather than a Border Force vessel reflects the rescue nature of the operation, which involved both British and French assets working in the middle of the Channel.

The Home Office declined to explain why Gosport had been selected as the landing point on this occasion, stating only that it does not comment on operational processes. That silence is likely to frustrate local residents and politicians who have questioned why their town repeatedly finds itself hosting arrivals.

The incident is not an isolated one. Last month, more than 100 migrants landed at Eastney in Portsmouth, an event that also led to scuffles between police and demonstrators. Taken together, the two episodes suggest a pattern of rising tension in the Solent region whenever rescue operations bring large groups ashore.

The broader context is a Channel crossing crisis that has persisted for years, with successive governments promising to stop small boats while arrivals continue. Every landing triggers a complex local response involving police, immigration officials, border agencies and volunteer lifeboat crews, often with little warning to the communities involved.

For Hampshire Constabulary, the priority will now be to complete its investigation while preventing further disorder. The force has already signalled that more charges could follow as officers review footage and statements from Sunday night. Community leaders, meanwhile, face the difficult task of calming emotions in a town that has suddenly become a focal point for a national argument.

The court appearance in November will be the first formal legal test of the events in Gosport. How the case proceeds — and whether further arrests lead to additional charges — will shape the narrative around a night that left officers injured, vehicles blocked and a coastal community divided.