At last police chief admits: We shouldn’t have played down travellers’ rampage

A CHIEF CONSTABLE has been forced into a humiliating apology over his officers’ handling of a crime-wave caused by a large group of travellers.

Cromer in Norfolk went into lockdown as the 100-strong group rampaged through the seaside town carrying out dozens of thefts, an assault and an alleged rape.

Restaurant, pub and shop owners were forced to board up their premises to avoid becoming victims of the crime spree.

In all, 37 crimes were reported in little over 36 hours after the arrival of the Irish travellers in two dozen cara- vans and motor homes. But police dismissed the mayhem as ‘ low-level disturbances’ – and even flatly denied the sex attack was connected to the travellers’ arrival.

Residents say officers effectively ‘surrendered’ to the troublemakers and were afraid to take firm action because of political correctness.

Now, three weeks later, Chief Constable Simon Bailey has admitted his officers – who did not make a single arrest at the time – failed to appreciate the scale of the chaos and misinformed the public.

In a ‘heated’ meeting with residents, he conceded the travellers had ‘caused anger and harm’, and said the force’s response to the weekend of chaos is under review.

‘There were a number of incidences of theft, of anti- social behaviour, of criminal damage and we misjudged our message and I’m sorry that we got our message wrong,’ he said.

‘I’m genuinely sorry that we crelinked ated the impression that this was a low-level disorder.’

Referring to the rape of the teenage woman at a bus stop, he added: ‘We had a rape which, whilst at the time we didn’t connect it to the group, we are now absolutely connecting.’

The weekend-long crime wave began after the group of travellers stopped in a town centre car park on Friday, August 18.

On the Sunday, a superintendent dismissed it as ‘high- season demand’ involving a ‘ slight increase of low-level anti- social behaviour and crime’.

A statement from the force also insisted the rape was ‘not being to these incidents’. The group finally left on the Sunday afternoon after they were served with eviction notices by the local council.

The following day, Deputy Chief Constable Nick Dean sparked accusations of politically correct policing by saying it would be ‘totally disproportionate’ to blame all the offences on the travellers.

Despite the apology, many residents remain furious.

Aryun Nessa Uddin suffered severe bruising on her arm after 40 travellers came into her family’s Masala Twist Indian restaurant to steal beer. She said that ‘five or six’ police officers in nearby cars attended after a waiter ran to get them, but they just ‘stood in a corner’ and refused to bring in their dog in case it got injured.

‘It’s disgusting ... Three [police] vehicles parked right opposite watched the whole ordeal and didn’t come to my help,’ she said.

Trystan Taylor, who had to board up his Blue Sky Cafe after ‘feral’ children stole ice creams and hurled stones at the windows, said: ‘It probably comes down to PC policing – not wanting to antagonise the travellers.

‘The only reason they left was not because of what the police did but because all the pubs and cafes and other businesses shut their doors.’ Last night North Norfolk MP Norman Lamb welcomed ‘the recognition that mistakes were made’ .The review is being carried out by Chief Superintendent Nick Davison, who told this week’s meeting that ‘in the context of the resources on the ground’ it had been impossible to keep everyone safe.

A spokesman yesterday said three people had been arrested in connection with the rape allegation. Two were released on bail and a third remains under investigation. Two teenagers have been arrested in relation to two separate thefts.

Comment – Page 18

‘We misjudged our message’