March 16th 2010
Update: 5:30pm – 9 out of 10 occupiers evicted, one on roof with arm in concrete barrel remains.
There has been a spirited defence of the building today
The occupiers received a tip off from Trinity Road police station which gave them advance notice that the bailiffs and police were preparing to leave.
They arrived at about 10am and initially tried to keep the road open. This proved futile and the road outside has been closed for most of the day.
It took the bailiffs at least an hour to gain access to areas of the building. Several people had positioned themselves on scaffolding tripods and ladders to make eviction more difficult.
At one point when the bailiffs were not paying attention one of the guys in a tripod jumped down and made a dash for their cherry picker. He almost made it out of reach and rendered the machine inoperable.
The bailiffs did manage to drag him back off the machine and back onto the roof. When he was lowered to the ground there were efforts made to de-arrest him.
A couple of Fascists with swastika tattoos were ‘asked to leave’ the demonstration, one of them sought refuge in a media van and was then escorted to safety by police.
Two people have locked on into concrete and attempts to remove them using angle grinders and sledgehammers are ongoing.
There has been a crowd of between 100- 300 supporters milling around for most of the day.
Get yourselves down there..