Dale Farm evictions - live
Oct. 19, 2011 The Guardian
• Violent clashes as Dale Farm eviction begins
• Caravan on fire as at least 50 officers enter site
• Reports of police baton and Taser use as protesters resist
• 23 people arrested for offences including violent disorder
My colleague Stephen Bates has more on the police use of Tasers during the eviction operation at Dale Farm today:
The police said they had been deployed to protect public order and members of the public, including those on the site, and that their use of Tasers was in accordance with official guidance and authorised by those in charge of the operation.Their account was, however, immediately contested by one witness, who claimed that a Taser was fired at a short range of a couple of metres, virtually simultaneously with the shouting of a single warning. It was also claimed that the police shouted at neutral observers: "Get back or you are going to get shot."
When it came, at dawn, the operation to secure Dale Farm was achieved, despite some minor injuries including a back injury and a nose bleed, with much less violence than had been predicted – or was claimed – by some of the Travellers.
The huge expense and disruption caused by the Dale Farm eviction will raise alarm in councils across England, my colleague Patrick Butler writes:
Few councils are unaffected by the question of where their local Traveller populations should live, and events in Basildon will have reminded them how volatile and intense the politics of Traveller sites can be.
According to official figures, there are around 300,000 gypsies and Travellers in England, most living in "bricks and mortar houses" rather than caravans. Around 80% of the estimated 18,000 gypsy caravans are on authorised sites, but it is what to do with those on unauthorised sites, and where to put the families that live in them if and when they are moved off, that will cause major political headaches.
A spokesman for MEP Richard Howitt said he was "manhandled" from the media area and was "shaken by the episode", PA reports.
Howitt said:
Today has been a shocking day in which serious events affecting the lives and rights of the people of Basildon have been at stake, and it is utterly reprehensible that the council has sought to stifle free and fair debate about what's happening.
I came here with a message for all to respect the law and to condemn violence against the police, so surely the council should have wanted a responsible elected local politician to have used my influence accordingly?"
The story of Dale Farm is one of Basildon Council mismanagement, delay and wasted money, and this is a story that needs to be heard.
PA has more on the removal of MEP Richard Howitt from the media compound at Dale Farm.
A Basildon Council spokesman said the Labour MEP was removed from the site after he "tricked" his way in to the compound.
The spokesman said the East of England MEP, who has publicly backed those facing eviction, had been warned both verbally and in writing that he could not enter the site for security reasons and was told he could visit tomorrow.
He said: "We are extremely disappointed that he chose to completely ignore our communications and tricked his way into the compound, which was a security breach.
"He was subsequently removed from the compound and will not be allowed back."
Stephen Horgan, deputy leader of the council, told BBC Essex: "Where has Mr Howitt been for the last ten years and during his time as a member of the European Parliament?
"He could have had significant clout when the Labour government was in power to help this situation, but was nowhere to be seen - it is only now at the end of the process and with major media interest in the site clearance that he has appeared on various outlets offering negotiation and so called solutions to the problem."
Essex Police have arrested 23 people at Dale Farm today for offences including violent disorder, breach of the peace and obstruction.
The chairman of Ramsden Crays Parish Council, Andy Peake, has told local radio that he welcomes the eviction of Dale Farm.
Peake told BBC Essex radio: "It's a great day for the villagers. We've put up with so much. We deserve to see the end of it all"
Basildon Council leader Tony Ball has been talking to PA about the eviction operation and defending the police tactics.
I think we have seen from the level of violence put up by the protesters this morning that it was absolutely right that the police led the operation.
His comments were echoed by local Tory MP John Baron, who added:
It's unfortunate that some protesters have resorted to violence. The police were right to take control of the site's clearance.
The protesters were there at the request of the travellers and I urge the travellers now to ask the protesters to leave peacefully and lead by example and leave themselves.
From what I have seen, the police have acted fairly and responsibly. Don't forget some protesters were throwing rocks, carrying iron bars and threatening violence.
The police have been restrained but at the end of the day, the police have got to defend themselves to ensure there is no violence.
Supporters of Dale Farm have told PA that a resident of the site had to be taken to hospital after the electricity supply was cut off, shutting down his defibrillator:
Tonight police had secured the area and removed protesters from a 40ft high scaffolding tower which had been erected at main gate to the site. It is being dismantled which officials hope should allow access for the bailiffs tomorrow to begin removing the plots.But sporadic clashes between police and protesters were continuing tonight.
Electricity supplies were cut and supporters said this had turned off crucial medical equipment belonging to elderly residents.
Paramedics were escorted on to the site by supporters to treat resident Nora Egan, who claimed she suffered back injuries in a confrontation with police.
Essex Police said they would investigate the circumstances leading up to a woman receiving "a minor back injury".
Margaret Sheridan also claimed she was injured. "They're rough and there is no reasoning with them," she said.
Kathleen McCarthy, a Dale Farm resident, said: "The memory of Dale Farm will weigh heavily on Britain for generations - we are being dragged out of the only homes we have in this world.
"Our entire community is being ripped apart by Basildon Council and the politicians in government."
An ambulance service spokesman said one resident had been taken to hospital and another was receiving treatment. Four others refused treatment.
Supporters said resident Cornelius Sheridan, who is in his 50s and seriously ill, was taken to hospital after the power supply to his defibrillator had been cut.
MEP Richard Howitt has accused Basildon council of wanting a confrontation with the travellers.
Speaking on BBC News, the Labour MEP said he accepted that the travellers shared some of the blame for the eviction as the site was illegal under planning law. But he went on to castigate council leader Tony Ball for his handling of the situation:
He decided that he and his group look tough and get political credit by doing these sorts of things they've been doing today. I think they [the council] did a deal with Eric Pickles, who's a neighbouring MP, to get government support for this. And so over several weeks their only interest has been a forced eviction and a confrontation.
I offered to mediate, the Bishop of Chelmsford offered to mediate, the UN Commission for Human Rights – at my request – offered to mediate, and Basildon council refused all of those offers – and they should be held accountable. (...) This day should never have happened.
Labour MEP Richard Howitt, who has just given an interview to BBC News in which he criticised Basildon council's actions, says he has been "forcibly ejected" from the media compound at Dale Farm.
Amnesty International has condemned Basildon Council for conducting " a forced eviction on an unprecedented scale" at Dale Farm.
Kate Allen, UK director of the human rights group, also disputed the description of the eviction as a "site clearance" and urged the police and bailiffs to show restraint.
Some commentators and politicians have portrayed the enforcement action by Basildon council at Dale Farm as a site clearance, and not a forced eviction. This is misleading and inaccurate.
What is in its early stages at Dale Farm is a forced eviction which will leave several families homeless. The families being evicted have been failed by the Council at every turn; in inadequate consultation, insufficient negotiation and in the woeful failure to offer culturally adequate alternative accommodation, to which they are entitled.
The sad reality is that we are witnessing a forced eviction on an unprecedented scale in the UK. The eviction at Dale Farm is not necessary and represents a failure on the Council's part to comply with international human rights standards on housing and evictions.
The use of force by police and bailiffs must always be strictly proportionate, necessary, appropriate and an absolute last resort.
Amnesty added that there had been "a lack of genuine consultation consistent with international human rights standards on options for alternative culturally adequate housing for those affected."
Police have made more arrests at the site, according to BBC Essex radio.
In a post of Twitter, Allie Hodgkins-Brown, the station's news editor, says: "Don't know exact number of arrests now at #dalefarm but suspect figure has risen from 7 to about 15 - my guess, not confirmed."
She also says Basildon council has told the station that "nothing unsafe will be done in the dark", suggesting the eviction operation is being wound down as the daylight fades.
This is David Batty – I'm taking over the live blog for the rest of the evening. You can follow me on Twitter @David_Batty.
That's it from me today. I'm handing over to my colleague David Batty.
PA's latest dispatch from the Dale Farm scaffold tower:
Seven supporters have been removed from the tower, which is now empty. At least four more are chained beneath the main platform.
The future of a school for the children of the Dale Farm Traveller community is hanging in the balance, reports my colleague Jessica Shepherd:
Some 103 of the 106 pupils at Crays Hill primary school live at Dale Farm. Jo Lang, chair of governors at the school said the last few months had been a "difficult and unsettling time" for pupils and teachers.
He said the school had been determined that teaching would continue as normal and that the school would remain a "constant safe place".
"We strongly believe that all children have the right to an education and we are ensuring we do all we can do prepare our pupils for their future," he said.
A spokeswoman for Essex county council said it was "too early" to know what would happen to the school. She said that pupils on the authorised pitch of Dale Farm would continue to attend Crays Hill.
The number of arrests at Dale Farm has now reached seven, Essex police have just told me. They don't have a breakdown of all the arrests, but they say two people were arrested on suspicion of violent disorder and one for a suspected breach of the peace.
David Allen Green's NS piece seems to be doing the rounds of the country's coppers. Chief Superintendent Paul Kennedy, area commander for South Cumbria, has just linked to it on Twitter:
In case you haven't seen it, Lexy Topping's report from Dale Farm is here
This is an interesting tweet. Some people are furious about David Allen Green's New Statesman blog (see here) and another NS piece entitled "Are police breaking their own rules by using Tasers at Dale Farm?"
However, Jon Collins, deputy director of the Police Foundation, has just tweeted this take on the issue:
The people at Dale Farm Solidarity have penned a piece for CiF pondering Travellers' rights, the significance of the protests — and their legacy. Here's a taste of it:
The police brutality seen at Dale Farm today is not a one-off, but part of a long-running criminalisation of Traveller communities and culture. Until 1994, all local councils had been required to offer a designated amount of Traveller pitches in their area. The Conservative government repealed this, leaving at least 5,000 families without a legal home.
Today, councils are 20,000 pitches short of their legal duties, and even these unenforced responsibilities will be removed by the localism bill. These guidelines, like the Travellers they're designed for, have simply been ignored, the result being 18% of Gypsies and Travellers were homeless in 2003 compared with 0.6% of the UK population. This is why Dale Farm residents are engaging in civil disobedience to resist the eviction – the alternative is homelessness.
There is however something else that's unprecedented about the situation at Dale Farm: the growth of a solidarity movement to promote the civil rights of Travelllers. At the eviction today, protesters and residents occupied the tops of towers and caravans together, resisting the brutal eviction for as long as possible.
The ideas that have coalesced around the Dale Farm community are simple. Travellers are simply asking for the right to exist legally. Despite the grim and brutal scenes we've seen today at Dale Farm, the least we can hope is that these messages will be heard.
OK. Acpo have just got back to us about the circumstances in which Tasers can be used.
According to Acpo guidance, issued in 2008, it is "not possible to provide a definitive list of circumstances where the use of Taser would be appropriate".
However, the advice states a Taser should be used only where officers are authorised to carry firearms or "where the authorising officer has reason to suppose that they, in the course of their duty, may have to protect the public, themselves and/or the subject(s) at incidents of violence or threats of violence of such severity that they will need to use force".
An Acpo spokesman added:
Tactical decisions concerning necessary and proportionate use of force are a matter for the operational commander who will deploy tactics appropriate to the specific circumstances.
Tasers are used by trained officers facing violence or threats of violence of such severity that they will need to use force to protect the public, themselves or the subjects."
CORRECTION: We mistakenly said earlier that an AP journalist had witnessed the Tasering incident.
It turns out the information did come from a journalist, but not one employed by AP. Sorry for the mistake.
Here's some Essex police footage of Supt Trevor Roe discussing the eviction operation — and the Taserings.
"Tasers were deployed on two occasions, almost simultaneously. This followed an incident where one subject obviously threatened serious violence towards a pair of officers. Their reaction was — with their personal protection equipment — to respond and they deployed Taser just around that specific incident."
Riggers1 poses a topical question on the thread below:
Are we seeing the creeping normalisation of the Taser for general crowd control?
A quick PA update on the police and their cherry picker:
After initial talks with protesters on top of the gate, the officers lowered themselves on to the platform and began removing bags and other equipment.
At least four protesters remain on top of the gate, where they have been sleeping, and must be removed before the structure can be dismantled.
Protesters chanted and tried to prevent officers climbing on to the platform. They appeared to tie a chain around the cherry picker lift, attaching it to the scaffold.
Police are using a cherry picker to talk to protesters on the gantry, reports Stephen Bates.
ACPO say they'll be in touch soon about Tasers and the circumstances in which officers can use them …
- Here's Johnny Howorth's video of today's eviction
An interesting blog on Tasers and police force from David Allen Green over at the New Statesman.
It is right that in a liberal and democratic society the State has a monopoly in the use of coercive force against citizens, but this monopoly has to be balanced with accountability and transparency.
Those who rush to rubbish anyone questioning the police, or are quickly dismissive of those complaining of the use of force, are in fact not helping serving officers. They are instead entrenching a needless lack of effective communication.
The abuse of libel and the over-use of PR professionals are similarly undesirable features of modern policing. Policing ultimately requires practical co-operation and implicit consent. Wise police officers know this.
This from PA:
[Dale Farm] resident Cornelius Sheridan, who is in his 50s and seriously ill, has been taken to hospital. Supporters said this was because the power supply to his defibrillator had been cut.
An ambulance service spokesman confirmed that one resident had been taken to hospital and another treated by paramedics. Four others refused treatment.
We called ACPO just before 11am to ask about the circumstances governing the use of Tasers and are still waiting to hear back. In the meantime, here's a video of one of today's Taserings
-
Stephen Bates has spoken to a freelance journalist who witnessed a man being Tasered by police this morning — and his account seems to differ from the official police line that officers were under direct threat.
The journalist told Steve that officers were on the offensive and were not under threat from the man when he was Tasered.
Although stones were being thrown at police, he added, they were being chucked from well behind where the man was.
He also says that police used the Taser on the man — who was a protester rather than an observer — as they shouted their first warning that they were armed with the weapons.
The journalist also reports that police officers dismissed official observers as they moved in, telling them: "We don't care who you are. Get out of the way!"
Protesters gather on scaffold tower as riot police prepare to evict the Dale Farm Travellers' camp Photograph: Carl Court/AFP/Getty Images This is the tower in question: gateway to the camp, symbol of resistance to some — and headache for police.
My colleague Stephen Bates is at Dale Farm and sends this update:
More heavy lifting gear moving toward gantry. Cafe set up with free tea, coffee, bacon rolls for police, firemen and media — strategically upwind of gantry to tempt protesters down with food aromas?
One of the biggest issues of the day has been the police's use of Tasers on two people. Here are the full press conference quotes on the matter from Supt Trevor Roe of Essex police:
Serious violence was offered to a pair of officers in particular. Their response was to protect themselves. They carry personal protective equipment which includes the Taser and they just naturally reacted as they are trained individuals to operate that device.
Acknowledging that Tasers are not recommended as a "public order tactic", he added: "This was an isolated incident where officers were threatened directly."
And he insisted the officers involved were appropriately trained and understood their boundaries.
An inquiry will now be launched into issues of reasonable force during the operation which saw police pelted with bricks and some protesters urinating on officers.
Caroline Spelman, secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs, has told BBC2's the Daily Politics that the Dale Farm eviction is "ultimately about fairness".
She said:
You can't have one law for the travelling community and one law for the settled community. We operate in a democracy where we need to abide by the law. Everybody knows you can't just occupy a piece of greenbelt land, rip off the turf and build what you want on it. You have to have planning permission.
(via Politics Home)
Oh dear. Thom Goddard, councillor for Chingford Green ward in the London borough of Waltham Forest, has apologised for a tweet in which he wrote:
Can't help thinking that tower of scaffolding would make a good game of human Kerplunk
After a not inconsiderable amount of abuse and outrage, he has (hastily) deleted the offending tweet and apologised. Well, sort of:
I fear we may be hearing more about this matter …
LUNCHTIME SUMMARY
Here's a quick recap of the events of the last five hours at Dale Farm:
• Violent clashes broke out this morning as police from three forces moved into Dale Farm
• Three people have been arrested and two people have been shot with Tasers after allegedly offering "serious violence to a pair of officers"
• Six people treated by ambulance crew for minor injuries
• Police — who claim they were pelted with iron bars, stones, bottles of urine and concrete blocks — say they are now in control of the site and that tensions have subsided
• Protesters are seeking an emergency injunction to halt the eviction, accusing police of "brutality and illegal destruction of property"
• Council and local MP stand by decision to evict and the police's actions
Here's a bit of information from the ambulance service on the six people they have treated at Dale Farm: three were treated for smoke inhalation, one for minor back injuries, one for a nosebleed, and one for chest pains that proved not to be a heart attack.
Here's a fuller version of Tony Balls comments at the press conference a few minutes ago:
When I became a councillor, it was never in my mind and never did I want to preside over an operation where we saw riot police on the streets of Basildon.
But I am absolutely clear that after 10 years of negotiation to try and find a peaceful solution to this that actually what we're doing is the right thing.
I think we have seen from the level of violence put up by the protesters this morning that it was absolutely right that the police led the operation.
He thanked the police and congratulated them on the professional way they had carried out the operation, adding:
I now call upon the Travellers to ask the protesters to stand down so that the bailiffs can carry on with their lawful work of clearing the site.I am still hopeful, and actually determined, that when it comes to site clearance of the Travellers - and we know what we can do on certain sites - that this will be carried out in a safe and as dignified a manner as possible.
Superintendent Trevor Roe of Essex police has been talking about the police operation this morning, saying that his officers had intelligence that "a lot of missiles, fluids and liquids" were being stored on site to be used against police and bailiffs.
"Based on that information, the tactic was to get safe entry into the site as soon as possible," he said.
Roe added that police were now in control of the site. "It's calm, the tension is now reduced and the bailiffs are within their operational parameters ."
Asked about the use of Tasers, he said that "serious violence was offered to a pair of officers" who had reacted according to their training. He described it as "an isolated incident where officers were threatened directly".
This dispatch from Lexy:
I've been speaking to Nora Sheridan, whose son is 7 today.
She told me she was woken by an alarm and shouts at dawn when bailiffs entered the site.
"I will never get over it," she said. Bailiffs came through the back field and headed directly for the front gate.
"I didn't think it would be as bad as this. They promised a peaceful eviction but they have been very heavy handed."
Looking a little shell-shocked, she added: "Today is the final day. We are being evicted but I don't what we are going to do or where we are going to go. I never thought it would come to this."
Tony Ball, leader of Basildon council, has defended the decision to clear Dale Farm but expressed regret at how things have turned out.
"No one will take any satisfaction from where we have ended up today," he said. "[I] never wanted to preside over an operation where we saw riot police on the streets of Basildon."
He added: "I am satisfied that after 10 years, the council has done all it can to seek peaceful resolution to this."
John Baron, the local MP, has praised police for "showing restraint in trying to maintain law and order" and accused protesters of initiating violence.
A resident moves a figure of the Virgin Mary from Dale Farm travellers camp Photograph: Oli Scarff/Getty Images
John Baron, the Tory MP for Basildon and Billericay, has popped up on PA to call for a calm and peaceful end to the eviction. The police, he adds, have acted "acted fairly and responsibly".
It's unfortunate that some protesters have resorted to violence. The police were right to take control of the site's clearance.
The protesters were there at the request of the travellers and I urge the travellers now to ask the protesters to leave peacefully and lead by example and leave themselves.
From what I have seen, the police have acted fairly and responsibly. Don't forget some protesters were throwing rocks, carrying iron bars and threatening violence.
The police have been restrained but at the end of the day, the police have got to defend themselves to ensure there is no violence.
Police have made three arrests at Dale Farm, according to a spokesman. Two were on suspicion of violent disorder but information on the third is sketchy. Essex police have confirmed that officers from Surrey and the Met are also involved in the eviction operation, but they won't be drawn on numbers.
Two press conferences are due to get under way on site shortly. First, at 11.30, is Basildon council. Second, 15 minutes later, is Essex police.
Lexy's been speaking to the Dale Farm Solidarity Campaign, who have given her this update:
Just to confirm, Dale Farm resident in hospital with spinal injuries from police baton. In a lot of pain and can't move legs.
Solicitors are seeking an emergency injunction. Climbing teams removing residents and supporters from front tower.
Lexy Topping has just tweeted an update from Dale Farm, where there's little movement.
My colleague Polly Curtis has been crunching the numbers on her Reality check blog to find out how much the Dale Farm eviction is costing.
Here's her conclusion:
The council has a budget of £8m for the evictions, the police operation is thought to be around £10m with some suggestions that it could stretch to over £12.5m.
The total bill is put at £18m by the council and £20.13m by the Dale Farm Solidarity campaign group.
But these figures are extremely provisional and don't include the costs of the delays to the evictions after the court action last month.
I've just been speaking to the Guardian's Johnny Howorth, who's witnessed scenes of "abject chaos" at Dale Farm this morning. The clashes of earlier have now given way to a stand-off, he says.
At present, there seems to be more or less a stalemate between protesters and bailiffs and the police who are figuring out what to do next
There's a real sense of despondency on behalf of the Travellers … They never thought it would come to this.
You can listen to the interview above.
An activist holds up a crucifix as a barricade burns during evictions this morning. Photograph: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images The bishop of Chelmsford, Stephen Cottrell, has called for a peaceful resolution to the eviction — but stressed that more needs to be done nationally to help Travellers.
As we witness the sad and difficult eviction of the travelling community from Dale Farm, let us pray that it happens peacefully and that no one is hurt or injured.
But let us also remember that this eviction does not solve the problem but moves it somewhere else.
These families are going to have to sleep somewhere tonight. What is needed is a national solution to provide travelling communities with stable, permanent and, if they wish, settled sites so that their culture and community can be maintained and flourish within the law.
Police have begun removing protesters from the 40ft high scaffolding on the main gate, according to PA.
Several masked protesters have been taken away in handcuffs. About 25 protesters remain on the rampart and officers are removing them one by one.
Back to Polly Curtis, who's been looking into the use of Tasers in the wake of this morning's deployment at Dale Farm.
In December last year, Christian Papaleontiou of the Home Office's policing directorate told the Commons home affairs select committee that Tasers should not be used "as a crowd control measure".
He told the committee:
My colleague Polly Curtis has just been talking to Basildon council about the costs of the operation to clear Dale Farm.
A council press officer told her there was "no estimation" of how long it would to remove the residents from the land. He confirmed that they don't expect it to be fully clear by the end of today. He said:
Once it's clear, which will not obviously be today [because] it could be a long operation, we will take the road access out and return it to green belt land. Obviously people have got to come out before we start any digging but actually returning the land, clearing it, could take six weeks.
We've always said this won't be done in a day. It's got to be done safely. Protesters' actions have compromised that.
Here the latest from Lexy, who's on site:
Carnage here at Dale Farm. After an early morning raid which saw around 150 riot police enter the site through a back field, there is now a stand off.
Riot police are gathered, helmets on, shields up, by the barricaded gates. Around 20 or so protesters are by the gates, the same number on the scaffolding.
There is a huge fire burning: the last barrier between Travellers and police now.
Protesters in boiler suits and face masks keep adding new fuel.
A small caravan which was emblazoned with the words 'lady with difficulty breathing' has just gone up in flames.
Dale Farm supporters are now trying to get an emergency injunction to halt the eviction, accusing the police of "brutality and illegal destruction of property".
According to the Dale Farm Solidarity Campaign, the police are carrying out "a brutal, dangerous and unlawful eviction".
Mary Sheridan, a Dale Farm resident who has taken her children off site and is staying in a relative's lawful plot, said:
The only premeditated violence has come from the police — they knew exactly what they were doing when they started beating and Tasering people. This is not how a community should be treated by its own council. It's illegal for us to travel, but illegal for us to settle down here. We're getting hit by the police but we've got nowhere else to go.
Here are some of the instances of alleged police violence, as reported to the Dale Farm Solidarity Campaign (taken from their latest press release):
• Witnesses report the use of Tasers by police from the beginning of the eviction
• Police forced entry onto the site by using sledgehammers to break down a wall of a fully legal plot on the edge of the site. This is not only in violation of court order and constitutes criminal damage, but it is also highly dangerous. Vulnerable and elderly residents had stayed on that plot expecting to be safe as it is protected through court decisions, and were highly traumatised as police sledgehammered through the wall. At least two women residents sustained head injuries.
• Batons have been used on supporters and residents from the beginning of the eviction
• Severe injuries of residents and protesters have been witnessed by human rights observers and the press. One woman sustained such serious injuries from police that she had to be admitted to hospital.
• The plot of a resident who needs a breathing machine to survive has had it's electricity cut.
Nora Egan, who we heard from earlier, is being treated by paramedics amid claims she suffered back injuries in a confrontation with police.
My colleague Lexy Topping has just tweeted this:
Carnage here. Smell of burning. Protesters in boiler suits and balaclavas adding fuel to the fire
Two protesters have been shot with Tasers and one person has been arrested, Essex police have said.
Officers have this morning entered the Dale Farm site following intelligence which informed the commanders that anyone entering the site was likely to come up against violence and a serious breach of the peace would occur.
Intelligence received indicated protesters had stockpiled various items with the intent of using these against bailiffs and police.
The first officers on the site were attacked with missiles being thrown, including rocks and liquids. These officers were fully equipped to deal with this situation.
This is the police line that marched on Dale Farm about an hour and a half ago. Note the shields — and the ladder.
Police in riot gear advance across a field as evictions begin at Dale Farm Travellers camp. Photograph: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images A stand-off has developed at the farm according to one witness, with police and protesters eyeing each other as they decide on the next move:
When the police breached the perimeter fence at the back of the farm, they deployed Tasers several times and I think two protesters were injured.
At the moment, it's pretty much a stalemate. The police are standing around and don't seem to be on alert. We're waiting to see what moves they make.
There are people on the scaffolding, people on roofs, and residents and supporters out ion the streets trying to defend Dale Farm."
The Guardian's Lexy Topping reports:
Police [have] broken barricade to enter the site. Police everywhere. Chopper overhead. Police at got through back of site and now attempting to demolish barricades."
Tony Ball, the leader of Basildon council, has condemned what he calls the "utterly disgraceful scenes" of violence on site.
He said:
The pre-meditated and organised scenes of violence that we have already seen with protesters throwing rocks and bricks, threatening police with iron bars and setting fire to a caravan are shocking.
These are utterly disgraceful scenes and demonstrate the fact some so-called supporters were always intent on violence.
Nonetheless we are going to press on with this operation with our partners in a safe, dignified and humane way and will uphold the law."
Here's a shot of police using Tasers earlier this morning. Still waiting to hear from Essex police on what equipment they're using at Dale Farm.
Police use Tasers as they break through a barricade during evictions from the Dale Farm travellers camp. Photograph: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images Just spoke to a member of the Dale Farm Solidarity Campaign, who's described the scene down there:
There's a stand-off at the gate where a lot of supporters are climbed up the scaffolding surrounded by riot police who have been using batons and shields and Tasers against protesters.
Further away, there's a small fire that was a bit bigger earlier. I think it was [lit] to try to keep the police back.
People here are incredibly frightened and feel that the barricade is all that stands between them and homelessness."
Essex police, not surprisingly, have a dedicated Dale Farm press officer today. Have put call in to ask about use of Tasers. Awaiting call back.
Supporters have set fire to a caravan placed across the street inside Dale Farm. They claim police have deployed Tasers, according to the Press Association.
Here's a quick round-up of the #DaleFarm Tweeters on site now: @damongreenITV @fergalkeane47 @DominicHurst @essexalliehb @benjkendall @danielnobody.
Lots of good tweet-reporting going on at the farm.
Fergal Keane has just tweeted this:
Quick correction: My colleague Shiv Malik is on other duties today, so won't be tweeting from Dale Farm as previously mentioned. Apologies.
This from PA:
One resident, Nora Egan, said she was struck as she told police they were not entitled to break down fences, which are legal.
She said:
This is being led by the police, there is no sign of bailiffs.
Margaret Sheridan also claimed she was injured.
They're rough and there is no reasoning with them.
Here's the latest dispatch from the aforementioned Dale Farm Solidarity Campaign:
Early this morning riot police and bailiffs stormed the Dale Farm community in a dawn raid. Police violated the court order and used sledgehammers to smash through the walls of a fully legal plot on the site in order to force entry. Human rights observers reported several injuries of residents and supporters from police action as they forced their way onto site. Police are using Tasers on those protesting the eviction.
Residents and supporters remain inside the site, many locked on to blockades and caravans together in order to resist the eviction. Police breached the perimeter to initiate the eviction.
Kathleen McCarthy, a Dale Farm resident, said:
The memory of Dale Farm will weigh heavily on Britain for generations- we are being dragged out of the only homes we have in this world. Our entire community is being ripped apart by Basildon Council and the politicians in government.
Things seem to be kicking off very quickly on site, with several Dale Farm supporters reportedly detained after violent clashes.
PA says that electricity supplies have been cut, which, according to supporters, has meant that crucial medical equipment belonging to elderly residents has gone down.
Supporters quickly erected barricades inside the site as police held the line, securing the rear area.
They are chanting: "Fuck the police, no justice, no peace!"
It looks very much as if the worst fears of Dale Farm residents are finally coming to pass. On Monday, their barrister told the high court:
There will be a number of families on the roadside if your lordship rules against us today.
Residents say that have nowhere else to go. In the most recent press release put out by their very professional media people, one resident said:
We are staying until we are forced from our land because we have nowhere else to go. Everyone we know is here on Dale Farm, all our families and friends. Who else is there to turn to … They are tearing apart our community, leaving us to bring up our kids on the roadside.
According to PA, police in riot gear entered the site after breaking down a rear fence just after 7am, prompting angry confrontations.
The move came as police and bailiffs held discussions, described by supporters as a distraction, at the main gate.
Female residents ran to their homes and broke down in tears as the police line advanced.
Our Dale Farm reporting team can be followed and contacted on Twitter. Follow:
@lexytopping @Johnny_Howorth @ShivMalik1 and @swajones.
Breaking news: PA reports that supporters have clashed with bailiffs and riot police at the rear entrance of Dale Farm as the eviction gets under way.
Residents of Dale Farm, the UK's largest Travellers' site, are preparing to resist an expected attempt to evict them today after they were refused permission on Monday to appeal against a high court ruling allowing Basildon council to clear the site.
Supporters have also been arriving at the site in Essex, where three people were said to be preparing to chain themselves to the gate by their necks, and two cars and a former Russian military vehicle have been moved into place as obstacles.
According to Tony Ball, the leader of Basildon council, "all preparations have been completed". Although he refused to confirm that the eviction would begin at first light today, he said the clearance was imminent and that no further negotiations would take place.
Dozens of bailiffs arrived at a council compound neighbouring the site for final preparations and two diggers and a crane were on standby.
Ball said:
The time for talking is over. We have given the Travellers every chance to leave peacefully and they have not taken it. Now our job is to clear the site in a safe and humane manner.
It is quite clear to me that the majority of the public want us to do that.
My biggest fear is that somebody - be it a bailiff, a police officer, a Traveller or a supporter - gets hurt.I would call on those inside Dale Farm to behave sensibly and responsibly.
Supporters have reinforced the barricade inside the main gate and smaller barricades are in place throughout the site. Piles of wood and bricks have been gathered at various key points.
Dale Farm traveller site eviction starts with violence
Oct. 19, 2011 BBC
Jeremy Cooke watches as police move in on activists occupying a 'gantry'
Continue reading the main story
Bricks and debris were thrown at police as they moved in to prepare the
way for bailiffs clearing the illegal part of the UK's largest travellers'
site.
Essex Police said two people had been Tasered and one arrested.
Officers in riot gear entered the site after breaking down a rear fence
just after 07:00 BST, prompting angry scenes.
The travellers lost a last-ditch attempt to stave off the evictions at the
Court of Appeal on Monday.
They said police entered the rear of the site during discussions,
described by supporters as a distraction, at the main gate.
One caravan at the site has been set on fire.
Electricity supplies were cut and protesters wearing masks said this had
turned off crucial medical equipment belonging to elderly residents.
One resident said she had been hit by a baton.
'Heavily outnumbered'
The BBC's Jeremy Cooke, who is inside the camp, described it as a "very
dramatic situation".
He said the protesters were "heavily outnumbered by the police".
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Aerial footage shows a large number of police moving in on activists at
the site
"They have met with a lot of resistance here. Stones have been thrown,
we've seen Tasers deployed," he said.
He added: "Police quickly moved through the site to the main gate once
they had gained entry as this was the most important point. Bailiffs and
heavy machinery have to come on to the site through this barricaded gate."
Police vehicles had lined local roads from the early hours of the morning
and an ambulance station had been set up in a compound nearby.
Officers have now begun removing protesters from the 40ft (12m) high
scaffolding on the main gate.
Several masked protesters have been taken away in handcuffs. About 25
protesters remain on the rampart and officers are removing them one by
one.
Resident Nora Egan said she was struck as she told police they were not
entitled to break down fences. She said: "This is being led by the police,
there is no sign of bailiffs."
Talks broke down
Resident Kathleen McCarthy said: "The memory of Dale Farm will weigh
heavily on Britain for generations - we are being dragged out of the only
homes we have in this world.
Julian Sturdy Inside the Dale Farm travellers' camp
The occupation of the Dale Farm by police began at first light when they
streamed through a rear perimeter fence in riot gear.
An alarm siren sounded inside the perimeter and protesters gathered at the
main gate rushed to the eastern side of the site where police were
streaming in.
They engaged in hand to hand fighting with the officers who had come
across the adjacent fields.
The operation was entirely police led and they were moving at jogging
pace, driving back the protesters in a running battle.
Well in excess of 100 officers pushed people aside as they made their way
through the site and I saw one traveller dragged and unceremoniously
dumped.
Within 15 minutes they had complete control but I did not see a single
bailiff with them.
Ranks of officers, including many from the Met force, lined up in front of
the main gate and its gantry which has now become the symbol of the fight.
They were pelted with bricks, bottles and other debris and used riot
shields above their heads as protection.
"Our entire community is being ripped apart by Basildon Council and the
politicians in government."
Essex Police said officers entered the site "following intelligence which
informed the commanders that anyone entering the site was likely to come
up against violence and a serious breach of the peace would occur".
In a statement, the force said: "Intelligence received indicated
protesters had stockpiled various items with the intent of using these
against bailiffs and police.
"First officers on the site were attacked with missiles being thrown
including rocks and liquids. These officers were fully equipped to deal
with this situation."
It added: "Consistent attempts have been made, both on Tuesday and this
morning, to negotiate with protesters to leave the site peacefully."
The eviction, which could cost up to £18m, marks the end of a 10-year
battle between travellers, who bought a former scrap yard on green belt
land in 2001 and established their caravans there, and the council.
More travellers joined them and some semi-permanent chalet dwellings were
built.
'Organised violence'
Over the past few days, travellers and their supporters have reinforced
the perimeter of the 49 illegal plots at the site.
Basildon Council leader Tony Ball condemned the violence between police
and protesters.
Riot police at Dale Farm Basildon Council leader Tony Ball said the
travellers had rejected 'alternative bricks and mortar accommodation'
He said: "The pre-meditated and organised scenes of violence that we have
already seen with protesters throwing rocks and bricks, threatening police
with iron bars and setting fire to a caravan are shocking.
"These are utterly disgraceful scenes and demonstrate the fact some
so-called supporters were always intent on violence.
"Nonetheless we are going to press on with this operation with our
partners in a safe, dignified and humane way and will uphold the law."
Mr Ball added: "I feel some sympathy for the women and children who have
been misled by their own community who said that if they settled on the
site they would be granted planning permission and this was never the
case."
He said that "alternative bricks and mortar accommodation" offered to the
travellers had been turned down."
'Minimum force'
Basildon Council's initial application to have them evicted began a series
of legal cases which saw the local authority and the travellers explore
every part of the justice system to settle the dispute.
As appeals were made by the travellers on humanitarian, medical and other
grounds it became apparent they would have to go.
Conservative MP for Basildon John Baron said: "Police are using the
minimum force required and when you are being pelted with bricks and rocks
you are entitled to defend yourself.
"This is a site clearance not a forced eviction and we hope it will become
peaceful but that is up to travellers and protesters."
Labour MEP Richard Howitt said: "The smoke above Dale Farm is the most
visible sign of the failure of Basildon Council to seek a mediated
solution."
UK police begin clearing illegal Traveler camp
By ROBERT BARR - Associated Press | Oct. 19, 2011
LONDON — British police in riot gear on Wednesday used sledgehammers to
clear the way for the eviction of a community of Irish Travelers from a
site where they have lived illegally for more than a decade.
A large force of police and bailiffs faced resistance from residents and
supporters who threw objects or struggled with officers at the Dale Farm
site, 30 miles (50 kilometers) east of London. One mobile home was set on
fire as police moved in and several protesters chained themselves to
barricades with bicycle locks in a bid to slow down the evictions.
Essex Police said two protesters were Tasered and one person arrested and
that police officers had been attacked with rocks and other missiles as
they tried to enter the site.
The conflict over the settlement has simmered since 2001, when Travelers
bought and settled on a former scrap yard next to a legal Travelers' site.
The local authority says it's a simple planning issue — the 86 families
lack permission to pitch homes on the land. The Travelers, a traditionally
nomadic group similar to, but ethnically distinct from, Gypsy or Roma
people, call it ethnic cleansing — the latest chapter in a centuries-old
story of mistrust between nomads and British society.
"We are being dragged out of the only homes we have in this world," said
Kathleen McCarthy, a Dale Farm resident. "We will do our best to stay but
it looks like we have no hope."
Lily Hayes, who identified herself as a human rights observer, accused the
police of using unnecessary force. Authorities said the violence was
coming from the Travelers and their supporters.
"The premeditated and organized scenes of violence that we have already
seen with protesters throwing rocks and bricks, threatening police with
iron bars and setting fire to a caravan are shocking," said Tony Ball,
leader of Basildon Council, the local authority.
"These are utterly disgraceful scenes and demonstrate the fact some
so-called supporters were always intent on violence," Ball said.
There are estimated to be between 15,000 and 30,000 Irish Travelers in
Britain, where they are recognized as a distinct ethnic minority by the
government.
The legal battle over Dale Farm dragged on for years, through eviction
orders and last-minute reprieves, until the Travelers lost a final appeal
last week.
Traveler evictions are common across Britain, but few are as high-profile
as Dale Farm. Oscar-winning actress and political activist Vanessa
Redgrave came to the community's support, and the U.N. Committee on the
Elimination of Racial Discrimination urged authorities to find "a peaceful
and appropriate solution" to the crisis.
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