‘Ravers will be punished’
By thisislocallondon – Thursday 21 September 2000
Copyright: thisislocallondon
Police, who came under fire for allowing an illegal rave which kept residents of West Ewell, Stoneleigh and Worcester Park awake for 48 hours, say the organisers have not been allowed to get away scot free.
Superintendent Keith Free, of Kingston Police, told angry councillors last week he had been “stuck between a rock and a hard place” and feared far greater damage and violent confrontations if police had tried to tackle the 2,000 ravers on Tolworth Court Farm directly.
But he said: “We are trying to bring to book the organisers of this illegal trespass and bring charges of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance.”
Surrey Police were quizzed on how they would have managed the situation at a meeting of Epsom and Ewell’s Police and Community Group last Thursday.
They agreed removing 2,000 ravers once the event started would be “problematic” and added that calling officers in from around the county on a Saturday night might endanger lives elsewhere.
Mid Surrey’s divisional commander Superintendent Keith Rogers said: “If we get information and intelligence that it is happening and we are able to intervene at an early stage, then that’s the ideal situation. If I was presented with the situation facing that police commander, I can’t say it would have been done any quicker than it was. It depends on what resources are available, how quickly officers can be mobilised and what the threat is.”
Home Office Minister Charles Clarke has agreed to meet Epsom and Ewell MP Sir Archie Hamilton, prospective Conservative parliamentary candidate Chris Grayling, councillors Jean Smith and George Crawford and Neil Bevan of Cuddington Residents’ Association on November 1.
They will be looking for reassurances that the situation will not be allowed to happen again.
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