Disgraced agent’s accomplice charged over Chris Whitty incident

The second man to appear in a notorious video showing an estate agent accosting Professor Chris Whitty has now been charged with common assault.

Last week it became known that one of the men in the video was Lewis Hughes, 23, of Romford in east London. 

At the time of the incident, in late June, Hughes was an employee of Caplen Estate Agents in Essex. He has subsequently lost his job and has been charged by police with common assault.

Now his friend in the video - Jonathan Chew, 24, of no fixed address, has been charged with common assault and obstructing police.

An investigation was launched after Professor Whitty, who is England’s chief medical officer, was accosted by a group of men in London’s St James's Park at around 7.20pm on June 27. 

Hughes says he had been on an anti-vaccination march elsewhere in London earlier that day, and had been drinking. He has subsequently apologised; in his words to the Sun newspaper, he was sorry “if” Professor Whitty was made to feel uncomfortable when he was accosted.

The actions of Hughes have drawn criticism from the agency industry’s main trade bodies.

Nathan Emerson, chief executive of Propertymark, told Estate Agent Today: “Accosting anyone and making them feel uncomfortable in this way is unacceptable.” And Iain McKenzie, chief executive of the Guild of Property Professionals, said: “Regardless of the industry an individual represents, anti-social behaviour of this type should not be accepted.”