- Dave Dawson threatened to remove travellers by force himself after declaring: 'I won't tolerate it.'
- Police say travellers left of their own accord in two hours 50 minutes after Mr Dawson's intervention
By Luke Salkeld
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Not having it: Dave Dawson, left, responded to travellers moving on to his land by leaping into his digger and threatening to move them by force
When he found travellers’ caravans had arrived on his land, Dave Dawson had two options.
He could either alert the authorities and wait for the slow turning of the wheels of justice and officialdom.
Or he could rely on the somewhat quicker wheels of his digger – and remove the caravans by force.
Taking the second course of action, Mr Dawson put in a call to the police to inform them of his intentions, which risked leading to his arrest.
Officers arrived to oversee what appeared to be a few heated exchanges before – remarkably – the travellers left of their own accord.
His swift action stands in stark contrast to the decade-long battle to shift travellers from the notorious Dale Farm site in Essex, which only came to an end in October last year.
Mr Dawson, whose farm is near Shoreham in West Sussex, discovered the intruders early yesterday morning. ‘I would have used any force possible to get them off my land,’ he said. ‘I got down here about 6am and told them to move off. There were four vans there at the time and more parked up outside.
‘I came down with the digger and tractor and told them if they didn’t move I was going to move them.
‘I just won’t tolerate it. It is my land. I bought it and I have worked hard for it. I called the police and told them I was going to get the digger and move them.
‘I didn’t care if they got squashed, flattened or left on their own, but one way or another I was going to get them off my land.’
'It's my land': Undeterred by the sudden arrival of the travellers, Mr Dawson called police and told them he was prepared to remove the intruders by force
'I would have used any force possible': Officers were forced to stand between Mr Dawson's digger and the travellers' caravans to prevent him from carrying out his threats
It is believed that the went to Lancing Green, West Sussex, three miles from Mr Dawson's land
He said that at one point in the clash the officers had to stand between the two sides.
‘The police told me that once they are on the land they have rights. But what about my rights?’ Mr Dawson added.
‘If I had left it to the authorities they could have been on my land for weeks. I wasn’t going to wait for a court order to get rid of them.
‘As it was, the police threatened to arrest me. It has already cost me a day’s work and about 500 to repair the damage. They cut through a metal gate and put their own lock on it.’
A spokesman for Sussex Police said: ‘Six caravans turned up on land at 6.45am. The landowner also turned up and threatened to evict the travellers.
Furious: Officers oversaw what appeared to be several heated exchanges between Mr Dawson and his uninvited guests
A traveller talks to officers: Mr Dawson feared that if he left the eviction to the authorities, the caravans could have been left on his land for weeks
‘Police attended and remained on scene to prevent a breach of peace. The travellers left the site of their own accord at 9.35am.’ Removing travellers who have occupied land without permission is usually a much more costly and time-consuming exercise.
At Dale Farm, the decade-long legal battle cost taxpayers an estimated 18million.
A total of 43 people were arrested and several injured after protesters fought running battles with riot police over the eviction of about 80 families from what was the UK’s largest illegal traveller settlement.
As soon as Basildon council had declared a final victory, there was a massive leap in the number of caravans pitched on the legal Oak Lane site next door – and an adjoining road – prompting more expensive legal action.
In 2009, a convoy pitched up at another controversial travellers’ site just hours after a group had been evicted following a six-year legal battle costing 400,000.
The new arrivals rolled on to a field adjoining the notorious Smithy Fen site at Cottenham, Cambridgeshire, where travellers had set up an illegal camp.
Bye bye: The travellers eventually moved off Mr Dawson's land at 9.45am - three hours after they had arrived
Source: www.dailymail.co.uk
Kent urges all councils to place looked-after children closer to home - Children & Young People Now
Kent County Council has made a plea to all local authorities to place children in care closer to home, after revealing that 1,267 children are placed in Kent from other parts of the country.
Kent has 1,267 placed in the county from other parts of England. Image Kent County Council
Leader of the council Paul Carter has written to London mayor Boris Johnson calling for a summit of London councils to discuss how they can better work together to find foster carers and residential children’s home placements in the capital.
There are currently 1,267 looked-after children placed with independent fostering agencies and privately registered children's homes in Kent by other local authorities.
Carter has also written to children's commissioner for England Maggie Atkinson to highlight the issue.
“Being taken into care is probably the most traumatic thing that can happen to a child,” Carter said.
“Children in care deserve a better deal and all councils must work much harder to provide placements that enable them to remain in their schools and with their friends, unless there is a threat to their safety.
“This will minimise disruption in their lives and protect the wellbeing of some of our most vulnerable children."
The council has said that supporting its 1,790 looked-after children, including 181 unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, as well as the 1,267 looked-after children placed by other local authorities, is placing massive pressures on children's social services, schools, police and health services.
There are 63 privately registered children's homes and 32 independent fostering providers in Kent, catering for 803 children placed by London councils and other authorities including Manchester.
Carter and Jenny Whittle, Kent’s cabinet member for specialist children’s services, met with children's minister Tim Loughton to call for legislation that would place a statutory obligation for local authorities to place children no more than 15 miles away from their home or school, unless in exceptional circumstances.
The legislation proposed by Kent would also require all councils to provide an annual statement to their local safeguarding children board detailing how many children are placed outside their local authority boundary and what safeguards have been put in place to protect these children from harm.
It would also require all 32 London councils to jointly commission fostering placements and residential children home placements in London.
Carter added: "Following the recent conviction of nine members of a sex-grooming network in Rochdale, all councils must make sure they can properly safeguard teenagers placed in residential children’s homes, particularly those placed many miles from home, which increases their sense of vulnerability.”
Source: www.cypnow.co.uk
Good on you Sir I salute you!
- Super Kev, London England, 14/6/2012 16:23
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