Anger as 'police block travellers from Manchester Christmas markets'

Travellers have accused police of 'discrimination' after videos emerged of officers putting children onto trains to block them from going to the Christmas markets. 

Video footage shared online showed hysterical children being ushered through Manchester Victoria on Saturday by a large number of Greater Manchester Police (GMP) officers, before being 'forced' onto trains destined for Grimsby, Lincolnshire.

National charity, the Traveller Movement, said the 'shocking' footage involved young people from the traveller community and that it was 'completely unacceptable'.

But Greater Manchester Police said a 48-hour dispersal notice had been put in place on Saturday due to a 'rising number of reports' of anti-social behaviour and disorder.

They said this involved re-routing groups back home. Some were put on TransPennine Express heading for Doncaster, but one mother said her children ended up in Grimsby further down the line. 

A man and a teenage boy were arrested on suspicion of assaulting an emergency worker. 

The force said its priority was 'always to protect public safety by preventing incidents of violence and disorder'. 

Videos posted online showed young people clashing with police officers as they were herded on trains, with one officer shouting: 'Get on the train!', as a girl responds 'stop pushing I'm going to fall.' 

Now, the Charity is considering taking legal action against the police and is reportedly in preliminary talks with lawyers, as they support affected families.

The Guardian reported some of the children's parents as well as leaders in the community attended a meeting with deputy mayor, Kate Green, on Tuesday. 

Yvonne MacNamara, CEO of the Traveller Movement, told the newspaper that while she was grateful for the meeting, there is still 'more questions at this stage than answers'.

She said the police officer's response was 'completely disproportionate' and 'clearly there's some accountability here'. 

Ms MacNamara told The Guardian some of the children involved were siblings and were as young as 10-years-old. 

Ms Green said she had watched the video footage circulating online and had asked GMP for a full report on the action that was taken. 

Representatives from the Traveller Movement said in a statement on Saturday: 'Manchester Police has this afternoon allegedly blocked Romani Gypsies and Irish Traveller children from attending the Christmas markets.

'This heavy-handed and discriminatory action has left children upset and distressed, with parents deeply concerned about the treatment that their children have faced.

'We have been contacted by numerous parents and received video footage of Romani Gypsy and Irish Traveller children arriving into Manchester, and then being forced onto a different train and prevented from leaving the station by police.

'These children were simply trying to enjoy the festivities like everyone else but instead have been unfairly targeted and marginalised.

'This is a shocking case and it is completely unacceptable. We will not stand by while our communities are discriminated against and excluded in this way.

'Manchester Police must be held accountable for their alleged actions and take immediate steps to end this blatant injustice.' 

One parent who spoke anonymously to Manchester Evening News (MEN) claimed her 13-year-old daughter and 15-year-old son had ended up more than 100 miles away in Grimsby.

The mother said her daughter was 'hysterical' when she called her from the train station as she was being escorted onto the train with others, MEN reported.

The brother and sister had travelled from Doncaster earlier that day, the mother said.

The mother went to the Trafford Centre so she could be close to her children in case they needed her and said she was there 'literally five minutes' before her daughter called her 'crying and screaming'.

She claimed: 'I could hear the police officers saying 'we don't care where you go, just get back on that train and get off now'. 

'I was saying to put the police officers on the phone but I could hear them saying 'I don't want to speak to your mother - get on that train''. 

Greater Manchester Police's Assistant chief constable Rick Jackson said: 'We are aware of social media videos circulating, and comments from the Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller communities concerning our policing of a dispersal order in Manchester city centre yesterday.

'Our priority is always to protect public safety by preventing incidents of violence and disorder.

'Due to intelligence of groups causing anti-social behaviour on trains on the way into Manchester and similar reports rising around the city centre, alongside increasing footfall, we issued a dispersal order. This included plans for officers to re-route arriving groups back home.

'Shortly after, officers responded to several disturbances in the city centre and intervened in altercations between groups.

'We understand there are feelings of mistreatment and confusion amongst groups of people for being turned away yesterday, and we are determined to address these concerns by working closely with the Mayor's office to engage these communities in Manchester and further afield.'