CPS receives Dale Farm case papers

PROTESTERS from Sheffield and Leeds are among 16 cases linked to the clearance of the UK’s largest travellers’ site that have been referred by the police to the Crown Prosecution Service for possible prosecution.

They are among eight women and eight men from Cambridge, Leicester, London, Hereford, Surrey, Kent, Sheffield, Leeds and Bristol who have been on police bail since being arrested at Dale Farm near Basildon, Essex, in October.

Yesterday it was announced the CPS will consider possible charges of obstructing a bailiff against each of them.

Protest group Dale Farm Solidarity issued a statement saying that more than 30 supporters had rejected police cautions.

It said: “We stand by our decision to attempt to prevent the brutal forced eviction that took place. “It has left Dale Farm a wasteland, with 83 families homeless and living in inhumane conditions.

“We believe that the eviction was unjust and therefore our actions were justified; we cannot accept ‘guilt’ for standing side by side with the Dale Farm community.”

Several of the 16 have no fixed addresses.

A total of 39 people were arrested during the protest. At least three have already appeared in court.