Police watchdog to review Traveller dispersal case

A police watchdog has confirmed it will review an incident in which officers were accused of being "heavy-handed" after large groups of Romani Gypsy and Irish Traveller youths were stopped from attending a city's Christmas market

They were met by Greater Manchester Police (GMP) at Manchester Victoria on 23 November last year and allegedly "forced" back on to the trains they arrived on.

The Traveller Movement said the force's response to its complaint about the incident was "deeply flawed" and asked the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) to review the case.

GMP Assistant Chief Constable Rick Jackson said the force had expressed "regret at the distress caused" by events on the day.

An IOPC spokeswoman said the watchdog received the request to review the incident and GMP's handling of the complaint earlier this month.

She said: "We have requested all the relevant papers from the force so that we can start that review."

GMP previously said a dispersal order was put in place on the day in response to "intelligence" about anti-social behaviour on trains and in the city.

The Traveller Movement alleged children were racially profiled by officers and excessive force was used.

GMP met representatives from Romani Gypsy and Irish Traveller (GRT) communities in the aftermath of the incident.

Mr Jackson added that the use of police powers were "not taken lightly" and they were "used with a great deal of consideration".

He said the force had added a GRT representative to its Independent Advisory Group so their views could be represented.

"We continue to reflect and review how we police similar situations in the future," he added.

Greater Manchester deputy mayor Kate Green previously found the dispersal order raised concerns about discrimination and could have been avoided.

Ryan Bradshaw, from law firm Leigh Day which represents the Traveller Movement, said: "Our clients are hopeful that an IOPC review will expose what they believe is the clear institutional racism that led to this appalling incident."

It is alleged by the charity that children were forced onto trains heading to unknown destinations, separated from their families and subjected to physical abuse and disparaging remarks about their ethnicity.

Pauline Melvin-Anderson OBE from the Traveller Movement said the police response to the charity's complaint was "deeply flawed and lacks transparency".

She said it was a "blatant attempt to justify the unjustifiable".

"Our children were humiliated, physically harmed, and placed in vulnerable situations because of discriminatory assumptions about their communities," she said.

"We will not rest until a full inquiry takes place."

The Traveller Movement has called for GMP to apologise and disclose the "intelligence" it relied upon to justify its actions.

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