A MAN has appeared in court charged with assaulting three police officers outside the Stradey Park Hotel.

Mark Sheehan, 59, was due to enter pleas at Swansea Crown Court to three counts of assault by beating of an emergency worker.

The charges related to alleged offences on August 16 outside the Stradey Park Hotel in the Furnace area of Llanelli.

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There have been a number of arrests in the area around the hotel connected with protests against the plans to house 241 asylum seekers at the hotel while they are waiting for their asylum claims to be processed by the Home Office.

It was previously announced that 95 jobs – 50 full-time and 45 part-time – have been lost as a result of the proposals, and all booked events at the hotel, including weddings, were cancelled after July 10.

At an information session in August, residents were told that none of the asylum seeker families would be moved in to the site until it is signed off as safe.

However, the court heard that Sheehan was due to appear at Llanelli Magistrates’ Court facing “separate” but “similar” offences.

The plea and trial preparation hearing was adjourned until November 6 to allow Sheehan, of Panteg in Llanelli, to plead to the other charges he also faced.