Basildon Council enforce media ‘blackout’ as Bailiffs break the law.
Basildon council have prevented media from accessing Dale Farm until Monday at the earliest, as it emerged today that Bailiffs were breaking the law. Constant & Co. Bailiffs have begun removing fences and walls in breach of a court order requiring them to give 48 hours notice before work can commence. Notices were given to residents on Friday morning and are scheduled to expire at 9am on Sunday.
One women, recovering on a legal plot after a fractured spine obtained from police heavy-handedness, was intimidated out of her home as bailiffs began illegally demolishing her fences and walls. Bailiffs also broke the windows of her chalet [photo below].
Window of a resident's chalet. This same resident had received serious spinal injuries as a result of a police assault on Wednesday.
Mary Sheridan, a resident, described the tactics as “disgraceful. We always knew the Bailiffs would breach their court orders, they always do. But I can’t believe Basildon council could be so obviously trying to cover-up their demolition of our homes from the world.”
Yesterday Bailiffs attempted to move trailers from three families’ plots despite
confirmation at the High Court by Justice Edwards-Stuart on 4 Oct that these plots could not be evicted and that families had a legal right to stay. Barrister Marc Willers was forced to intervene, reminding the Council that any action on these plots would place them in contempt of court.The imposition of media blackout today follows Basildon council’s ‘forcible eviction’ of local MEP Richard Howitt from the press enclosure last Wednesday [1]. Howitt is an outspoken critic of the forced eviction.
Supporter Ali Saunders said, “the council’s attempt at a cover-up is evidence of their embarrassment. This brutal eviction has left families with nowhere to go and will fall upon the conscience of all of the British people”.
Saturday 22 October 2011
Basildon Council enforce media ‘blackout’ as Bailiffs break the law. | Dale Farm Solidarity
