‘A massive injustice’: 10 years on from Dale Farm evictions, pain and trauma remain

Feelings still running high a decade after 80 Traveller families were evicted from Essex site

On the day residents of Dale Farm, then one of the largest unauthorised Traveller sites in Europe, were due to be evicted a decade ago, pupils at the nearby primary school were handed special stones they could squeeze as they walked into their morning assembly. The teachers wanted to remind everyone that the school remained a safe and welcoming place.

But the helicopters above and the violent scenes that unfolded pierced through and reinforced what the local community had been bracing for: 80 families, including vulnerable children, would find themselves homeless and unsure of where to go.