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Second Violent Eviction of Bradford Squat

Lucy | 23.11.2005 15:59 | Free Spaces | Social Struggles | Sheffield

On the 22nd Nov the owner of the pub we have squatted came in to our home and tried to use violence to force us out. The building in question has no plans for it and is to remain empty until it it levelled in a couple of months.

It was Evening in the squat and I was watching an episode of "Have I got News For You" recorded before the millenium. Tom had just had trouble with the police on Claremont as the Landlord had come back to find him on there when it had been evicted. He came into the room I was in in saying

"the Landlords outside! What should I do?"

Naturally, neither me nor Andy believed him, but it turned out that he was telling the truth, as their was an Asian gentleman Standing outside the back door. We had previously decided that if the Landlord did come round we would let him in, after the disasterous Violent eviction we experienced before when the Landlord brought some heavies round who started smashing their way through the window.

The man who was outside the door turned out to be the brother of of the landlord, and he looked round our home with surprise as we were obviously treating it as anyone would treat their home. We then waited for the owner of the house to arrive, and Tom went to work.

The owner just happened to be the same lovely man that violently evicted us a month or so ago. We didn't realise this until him and the other men were inside the house. The second they recognised us the situation became violent and they were demanding that we left the pub straight away. They threatened violence many times along the way, and one of the men was pushing me and Andy around, and he tried to snatch my mobile phone as I texted Tom to tell him what was happening. At one point he removed his belt and was threatening to hit us with it.

Terrified as we were, Andy rang the police when we had a moment to ourselves. They came pretty quickly, and we informed them of what was going on. Of course they wanted to side with the landlord, but as we had made the call they had to protect us. They couldn't ignore the fact that us being in the building was a civil offence and that the landlord would have to take legal action to get us out.

So we are still occupying the building! Me moved all our belongings back inside and the landlord left with retorts such as "you will die" and "Our time is the night time"

The sad thing is that their plans for the shearbridge is to flatten it. When we were gone it would have stood empty until it was profitable for the landlord to sell it to a land developer. The man who was stood in our home, ordering us to leave onto the streets in the middle of November couldn't give a fuck about human life. All that matters to him is numbers, and how much money something will make him. It made no difference to him whether we were in that building or not.

People should not be able to get away with that.

Lucy
- e-mail: pip_is_crazy@hotmail.com

Comments

Hide the following 7 comments

solidarity

23.11.2005 22:13

Hadn't read about you getting evicted before, but solidarity to you from the other side of the Pennines. Good luck with it. Try not to let landlord or his representatives (police not included) in your legal home, otherwise he can retake possession, never mind do the illegal trashing of your stuff/you! Section 6 and the Advistory Service for Squatters you probably already know about. xxx

sometimes squatter


Bit of advice for squatters

24.11.2005 12:13

Though what happened was out of order, please remember one vital fact about squatting: as squatters, the place is in YOUR possssion and you decide who comes inside. Never let the owner, the owner's agent or anyone else in to the building.

never ever ever ever ever!

that way, incidents described in this bradford posting cannot happen>

but best wishes for the future, hope everyone is ok.

sgrad


come visit

24.11.2005 15:50

Sorry you're getting so much hassle! Remember that there's always space at Bite The Bullet in Sheffo if you're stuck...

bullet scum


Pragmatic

26.11.2005 11:46

Although all advice is appreciated on these subjects, I don't think that it is as clear cut as "don't let them in".
This has been a widely discussed strategy and the reason behind it is that last time we were violently evicted we took the position of not letting them in no matter what. This resulted in the situation escalating massively and getting thrown out imediately. (If you want the details just ask).
As a result, we have adjusted our strategy and will keep on doing to find the most practical way. We do appreciate the advice tho, thanks.

Extra notes on squating:
1) Squating is generally reliant on state support (hence all the talk of section 6). However, it would be much better if we didn't have to use the state to protect us. This should be open to debate.
2) Ownership of buildings is just 1 of many forms of private property. To say that all landowners are evil because they have private property is to say that 99% of society is evil, the landlords are just the successful ones. Throwing two fingers up at society isn't always the best way to change it.

Zippy


sometimes...

30.11.2005 12:37

it has to be said, there are times when letting an individual in to have a look around is preferable to much aggro. i think the key is to let ONE person in at a time, have them well escorted and keep them on the defensive. we've managed to avoid a lot of aggro by letting a fire officer in, whislt keeping another waiting outside...

as long as you let them in on your terms, in the right situation it can work out for the better. just have a lot more of you then there are of them.

.


fair play to ya

12.12.2005 09:02

sounds like you guys stood up to them well...good on you. I hope you manage to stand your ground for as long as possible. The Shearbridge has been around for as long as i can remember....go for it. Good Luck!

Lix


Take Care

14.03.2006 12:48

You must be the most Courageous and brave folk Ive ever had the pleasure of meeting! not many folk would have the heart or the head to stand up to these situations as you guys have done and still keep going! The world needs more people like you guys Take care ; )

eyesoveracid
mail e-mail: neversoft66@yahoo.co.uk


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