Deportation row blockade
Hammer-wielding man held over smash and grab bid
A STREET was blocked off for seven hours in a protest to try to stop a neighbour being deported.
Protesters’ cars stopped the UK Border Agency’s van leaving with the 49-year-old shop worker from Pakistan.
A crowd of up to 100 gathered before the standoff in Easton, Bristol, ended at 5am yesterday.
The Home Office said: “We are grateful to police and community leaders who worked to resolve the incident peacefully.” The Cathedral Dean at site of hammer ‘raid’ Scene at Salisbury Cathedral yesterday A HAMMER-wielding man has been arrested after an attempted daylight raid on the Magna Carta at Salisbury Cathedral.
The suspect, 45, was restrained after a bid to smash a glass case holding the £20million charter. Guards swooped after witnesses gave a description. One said: “It looked like play-fighting then I saw a hammer.” He was held by Wiltshire Police. The Dean of Salisbury, Rev Canon Nicholas Papadopulos, said a second layer of glass saved it. He added: “Our guys were very courageous.” The charter, signed in 1215 by King John, stated monarchs were not above the law. The Salisbury version is said to be the best of four originals still in existence. Two men suspected of poisoning a former Russian spy in Salisbury claimed to be visiting the cathedral, built in 1220. years since the Magna Carta was signed in 1215. Four of its clauses are still in force