Monday - August 23, 2010

traveller update as villager fires shotgun into the air … arrested and gun confiscated by police

Wrote about the village that had an overflow last week of so called Christian Travellers.  They were there legally if you recall, but the number took everyone by surprise.  Well, amid complaints of some stolen property and misbehavior, the sky didn’t fall as far as we know so far. However ...  it’s getting so it’s harder and harder to trust even the media you think are straightforward, when they can’t seem to agree on the same headline in the same paper.

This story is a good example.

Right before me propped up near my pc is a headline below the fold, not super big at all btw, and it reads as follows.

VILLAGER HELD AFTER WARNING SHOT FIRED OVER GIPSY CHILDREN’S HEADS.  story page 4.

So we read the brief description and then went to page 4, to be greeted by this headline.

VILLAGER HELD FOR FIRING A WARNING SHOT AT GIPSIES.

OK, which is it?  If he merely fired in the air, then he wasn’t actually firing AT them. 
Yeah I know.  The paper has to grab our attention.  They did.  Although in truth any story these days that mentions Travellers or Gypsies no matter how they spell it, and they tend to spell it more then one way here, it’s going to get our attention.

So here’s the edited story and as always the full one is at the link below.

Villager held for firing warning shot at gipsies

A villager has been arrested after firing a warning shot over the heads of gipsy children intruding on his land next to the site of a “religious festival”.
Mr Bayfield was arrested and questioned on suspicion of a firearms offence before being released on bail. Police said his shotgun licence had been revoked and a firearm taken.

By Andy Bloxham Paul Stokes and John Bingham

Neighbours said that Christopher Bayfield had been plagued by break-ins and trespassing in the grounds of his home in the village of Swavesey, Cambs, in the days leading up to the incident on Thursday.

The village was described as in virtual lockdown after more than 1,000 travellers descended in 200 caravans on a 30-acre field next to Mr Bayfield’s family home for what was billed as an evangelical Christian festival.

Mr Bayfield, 40, lives with his father, Leslie, 85, a retired businessman, and mother, Josephine, 71.
The family’s five-bedroom house, which is surrounded by its own orchard, outbuildings and walled garden, is believed to be worth in the region of £1 million.
Neighbours said that Mr Bayfield, who lives in a section of the large house known to the family as “Chris’s Quarters”, is the main carer for his father, who is seriously ill.

John Smart, 78, one of Mr Bayfield’s neighbours, said: “There had been pilfering all week and when Christopher heard something in the shed he thought enough was enough.”
John Boyd, senior pastor at the Light and Life festival, said: “It’s a terrible thing to do to a little boy collecting ladybirds at the bottom of a garden.” He added: “Thankfully this is a Christian family and the matter did not escalate as it could have.”

COMPLETE STORY HERE

Posted by peiper     on 08/23/2010 at 04:04 AM   
Filed Under: • Travelers/Gypsies/Squatters • UK •  
• Comments (1) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

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