Town bids to ban family of travellers

SOLIHULL Council is seeking a court injunction to ban a traveller family from the borough after claiming they had set up illegal camps and had been linked to crime.

Court documents claim the Cassidy family are behind at least nine unauthorised camps since 2014, including at Chadwick End Recreation ground, Hillfield Park, Bentley Heath Park, Dorridge Park and Castle Bromwich and North Solihull Sports Centre.

Now Solihull Council is applying for a court injunction against 14 named individuals, which will be heard before Birmingham magistrates on Tuesday, March 13.

The injunction states: “The other defendants are members of and associates of that family.

“The claimant [Solihull Council] is unable to identity all of the members of the family who are involved in the encampments. However, the claimant has noted the registration num- bers of the various vehicles found on each encampment...”

The court application added: “For a number of years the defendants, their relatives and associates have made unauthorised encampments and by their unauthorised presence and by their actions caused a nuisance in Solihull.”

Nine illegal camps are listed in the document while those named are also accused of : Fly-tipping and littering; Using force and criminal damage to gain entry to sites;

Issuing ‘verbal abuse and threats of violence to local residents and business people’;

Permitting dogs to bark and foul the area around camps.

Solihull Council is seeking a threeyear injunction.

If granted, those named in the injunction will also be barred from:

Engaging in conduct causing or likely to cause a nuisance or annoyance to any person within Solihull;

Removing or damaging any lock or other means of securing any location within Solihull;

Entering with a view to setting up a camp on any of 37 sites in Solihull;

Entering or occupying any of the identified sites for residential purposes, whether temporary or otherwise, including occupying the land with caravans, mobile homes, or other residential structures;

Depositing, leaving or dumping any rubbish, building materials, waste products or other refuse anywhere in Solihull except in a receptacle designed for waste disposal.

Solihull Council cited the cost to the authority of the camps, including policing and security.

If granted, the court order would allow a power of arrest for anyone breaching its terms until March 2020 and, if charged, they could face fines, jail, or have their assets seized.

Full list of defendants: John Cassidy, aged 45; John Casssidy, aged 49; Mary Cassidy; Patrick Cassidy, aged 40; Margaret Cassidy; Andrew Cassidy; Eileen Cassidy; Elizabeth Cassidy; Charlotte Cassidy; William Cassidy, aged 46; William Cassidy, aged 71; Michael Cassidy; Kathleen Cassidy; Sarah Cassidy; Persons unknown.