Watch: ‘We’ve been violently evicted!’ Dawn raid sees York squatters manhandled off the site

Dramatic footage was shared this morning of a raid on the Barbican Community Centre squat.

One of those leading the group, Patrick Thelwell, was filmed being carried by three helmeted bailiffs off the site.

He said: “They’ve kicked my door in. They’ve kicked my head in. My girlfriend’s crying her eyes out.”

YorkMix broke the story on Wednesday that the group had moved on to the land, left undeveloped for years by owners Persimmon Homes, intending to claim it back for the people of the city.

Today, in an Instagram post, the group wrote: “Persimmon Homes violently and illegally evicted us from our homes at 6am this morning without serving us notice and in violation of our squatters rights.

“The police stood by as unmarked bailiffs assaulted us, grabbed me by my neck and threw me out of our boat, trying to smash my phone to stop me recording them.

“They then threatened to press charges for ‘kicking and spitting’ at them (didn’t happen) and the police warned me not to make an official complaint.

“We will be fighting this illegal eviction and have 7 days before our shed and boat are destroyed.

“We need all the support we can get to fight back and keep this land in the people of York’s hands. We made a lot of promises that we would do a lot of good, and we intend to stand by those promises.

“We will take back this land, we will make it a community allotment, and we will resist this criminally corrupt development every step of the way.”

‘I’m quite horrified at Persimmon’ – Councillors hit out at ‘illegal’ eviction of squatters

Read more about that a response from Persimmon at YorkMix here