50+ events over 7 days now organised!
195 Mare Street, Hackney, London.
The week has been split as follows:
For list of events (and updates) see: 195 Mare Street @ radar.squat.net [Read More]
The squatters who took over the former pub The Bohemia pub in Finchley have been evicted after police and bailiffs smashed through barricades in dramatic scenes this afternoon.
At just after 5pm around 20 High Court bailiffs joined by police, including canine units, forced their way through the rear entrance of the pub in North Finchley High Road before the occupiers, who entered the building in September, agreed to leave quietly.
The squatters had turned the abandoned building into a community hub following its sudden closure in August. [Read More]
Around 3:45 pm the participants of the independence march attacked Przychodnia social centre. It is owing only to our own determination and calmness that we managed to resist the nationalist aggression. A few people were injured but nobody’s life is in danger.
Neo-fascists were prepared to comment on the matter in the media and immediately informed that it was the people from the squat who attacked their march from the roof throwing stones in their direction. It is obvious that it was impossible because the end of Skorupki street, where the building is located, is around 200 meters from Marszałkowska street, along which nationalists were marching. [Read More]
Our three friends who were accused of the “offence” of occupying an unused allegedly residential building have all now been cleared of any “crime.” The three were arrested in Brighton last year, just two days after the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act (LASPO 2012) had become law. When they came to trial, two had charges dropped, the other one was convicted purely on the word of a copper. On appeal, this conviction was quashed on October 31, over a year later. So finally we can celebrate!
Now at last we can talk about the case and what it means for squatting. Basically, the news is good. Very good in fact. This new law is unenforceable, just as groups such as Squatters Action for Secure Housing (SQUASH) and the Squatters Network of Brighton and Hove always maintained.
[Read More]
Resistance to s.144 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act (LASPO) 2012 that outlaws squatting in residential buildings is growing. Ultimately, the law may prove unworkable and unenforceable.
Ten days ago, squatters occupied a residential council property in Southwark in protest at the sell-off of council houses and the criminalisation of squatting under s.144. Last week, a Brighton squatter was acquitted on appeal as the prosecution failed to prove he was living at the property. His two co-defendants had previously been acquitted on the same charge.
Yesterday, another case collapsed when the Crown Prosecution Service presented no evidence at Mold Crown Court against Tristan Dixon who was appealing his conviction under s.144.
[Read More]
Nestled in a quiet street between the river and Borough Market, surrounded by expensive butchers, wine bars and offices for start-up PR companies and various institutional offshoots of the Globe Theatre sits 21-23 Park Street. The nearly 200 year old building originally housed managers at the nearby Anchor Brewery, but was sold to Southwark Council who used it as part of their housing stock.
The building made headlines last week as news that the council was auctioning off the property with a reserve of £2.25 million earned it the title of “the most expensive council house in Britain”. On Monday, just as news that the property had been sold for £2.96 million began circulating, it also became clear that the building had been occupied by local residents, some of whom are part of a new mutual support group called Housing Action Southwark & Lambeth, in an attempt to prevent the sale of yet more public housing. Having attempted to identify a number of possible offences, it became clear that police had no legal recourse to arrest the occupants, and they left. [Read More]
We won the appeal!!
A squatter convicted under s144 had the conviction unanimously overturned for lack of ANY evidence. Our barrister was ninja and the judge laid down some stringent guidelines on what the police must do to establish proof that someone lives in a squat. Unfortunately he refused to define what constitutes residential…
A deeper analysis will follow, for now we can only say if you are accused of squatting a residential building, don’t talk to police at all (no comment interview) and plead not guilty. This law is fucked and unenforceable.
Also, the #mikeweatherleyisacoward case continues so our @housingwar twitter will continue with court updates. Continue reading for tweets from court today:
Today (Weds) was very quiet; there was no eviction attempt. We were prepared for the worst, but no cops called around, nobody claiming to be the owner, nothing. Just to recap, we are preparing ourselves to resist eviction because previously, on Friday, two people claiming to be agents acting on behalf of a company, which they claimed own two of the houses, came to illegally board them up. When we weren’t letting them do so, they called the cops. The cops decided not to do anything because they did not have the paperwork or legal authorisation to evict us[1]. However, the “owners” and the cops did say that they’d be back on Wednesday (today) with “papers”. [Read More]
Warning: News from the mainstream press
Eviction proceedings have been started against a group of squatters occupying The Bohemia pub in North Finchley.
The group was today issued a summons to appear at Barnet County Court on Monday, where the legal process of having them removed is set to begin.
Administrators for the former pub Chantrey Velacott applied for the order despite on-going talks with the pub’s owners Mitchells and Butlers and the property agent Colliers. [Read More]
So tomorrow (Thursday 31 October) the appeal against the s144 conviction continues in Hove Crown Court (today went quite well, we will be posting a full report after the trail concludes) AND also the two day trial of a man accused of calling Member of Parliament Mike Weatherley a coward begins at Brighton magistrates court (yes it does really).
[Read More]
“300,000 empty houses in Ireland, 5,000 people homeless”
A group of political squatters in Dublin are facing eviction from a row of empty, unused, rotting houses in Lower Grangegorman. We got a chance to speak to them and hear their side of the story. They are calling for people to come and help them resist eviction from Wednesday onwards.
After the arrival of Gardaí on Thursday and Friday (24th & 25th October) squatters in a row of occupied empty houses in Lower Grangegorman are facing eviction from their homes. They are calling for supporters to gather at the house to show solidarity and help them to resist this invasion of their home. [Read More]
Yeldeğirmeni (The Windmill) Solidarity, a local group based in Istanbul’s Kadikoy district, occupied a half-constructed apartment building abandoned for 15 years, calling it Don Quixote. bianet interviewed group activists who spoke up on their story.
Activists from Yeldeğirmeni (The Windmill) Solidarity occupied a half-constructed apartment building abandoned for 15 years, calling it Don Quixote.
The story broke as police forces paid a “visit” to the building for investigation. [Read More]
