Unlawful eviction of G20 convergence space

Published: April 02, 2009 19:46 by payn collective

Around 12.30 the police set up a cordon around the surrounding area, blocking off roads and refusing access to the space. Then 150/200 police stormed the office/residential complex made up of 12 connected building, Payn house being one of them [and the other 11 buildings standing derelict].

A large armored urban combat vehicle, screeched into Earls street as riot cops swarmed in from either side. bunching in a phalanx formation around the main doorway.

At the same time more riot cops invaded the surrounding buildings, gaining access to the roof, just in time to meet fleeing activists running to escape the impending confrontation.

Despite countless attempts to engage in conversation with the police, informing them their actions where illegal. they only responded with jeers. whilst the police outside Payn house where in the process of battering down the main door despite valiant attempts by residence to hold it.

Some residents fleeing from the roof met others fleeing from the ground floor, and barricaded themselves on the 1st floor and locked themselves in a series of side offices.

What followed was a twisted game of hunter and pray, as protesters attempted to escape - followed by a small army of cops, despite attempts to hid in the basement or run across the roof tops, crawled into the loft space, all where eventually picked off one by one, threatened with tasers and riot batons, and where dragged from the building.

The main body of people on the first floor where made to lie face down with hands in the air, looking on as the riot cops smashed the kitchens and surrounding spaces that they had just build.

Every one on the premises were arrested for violent disorder hand cuffed and removed from the building. Around 100 residents had been evicted from the building, were made to sit in plastic cuffs in the street gutter.

After a couple of hours of a F.I.T identification long process, the police had only arrested one person. and had to de-arrest everyone else, conveniently in this time the owner's followed by a veritable workforce army descended on the complex and proceeded to reclaim possession of all the premises, and to repair the vast damage caused to the buildings by the police.

This eviction was totally illegal, and as one policeman said the operation was a logistical nightmare and we should enter a official complaint.

Some prosessions where reclaimed from the building, if you had stuff inside go to Rampart, and also for more info/emergency housing.

Payn house was truly a shooting star.
It will be sorely missed.

Published: April 02, 2009 21:49 by thomas

Why is this an illegal eviction. Section 17 provides a power of entry. Once lawfully on premises it makes no difference.

Published: April 02, 2009 23:49 by Property Lawyer

Section 17 PACE; section 4 Public Order Act; section 7 Criminal Law Act. You lose.

Published: April 03, 2009 03:52 by anon

You expect the police to obey the law... Their purpose is to stop you from protesting and to neutralize you, and to interfere with you in any way possible and they have done so. It doesn't matter what the charges are, they won't stick, they'll be dropped - but the police have done their job which is to stop you from doing what you had intended to do. And you can sue them all you want, and your lawsuits will go nowhere. You expect that the system which you hate and want to destroy will treat you fairly and not fight back with all resources it has at its disposal - you're nuts...

Published: April 05, 2009 23:08 by resister

The owners of these buildings applied several years ago to demolish them and build a large modern high-rise office complex. Their planning application failed because these six houses are listed buildings and are the last remaining examples of Georgian architecture in the area. Since then the properties have been left derelict to decay to the point where they will become declared as unsafe structures and therefore have to be demolished. Thus allowing the owners to circumvent planning regulations.

So I'm not at all surprised to hear the polices smashed the place up, the owners probably encouraged them or even bribed them to do so, as it would be in their financial interest that the place get destroyed.

Published: April 06, 2009 00:59 by spider

So you think it's better to lie back and take whatever they give you? You think pure apathy is a better solution? The point is that the majority swallow the idea that the system is fair, and events like this expose the depth of it's rottenness. We should fight every step of the way to hold what rights we have. To give that all up, is what would make us 'nuts'.

The "you" seems levelled at everyone who supported the convergence centre - which was set up to house all those coming to London for the Climate Camp and the contra-G20 stuff. Which is a massively diverse collection of people; you're lumping everyone into one of many sets of beliefs and desires, and judging them by some extended application of that idea which took a wrong turn somewhere.

WE know what the police's job is, but if thinking that is what incriminates us, where's the end of the circle?

Exactly how is your post supposed to benefit anybody?