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£5 million police helicopter wrecked by travellers
Amar Singh14 May 2009
A police helicopter has been wrecked by a group of travellers after officers used it to spy on their site, it was claimed today.
The £5 million aircraft, owned by Surrey police, was destroyed by a gang after weeks of aerial surveillance on the travellers' site, where detectives believe stolen goods have been hidden.
A police source said last night: “The gipsies were furious because they kept getting buzzed by the helicopter.”
The incident happened at 10pm yesterday, when the gang leapt over a 4ft wall surrounding the force's helipad at Fairoaks airport, near Woking.
They smashed six windows and threatened staff in the operations room.
The aircraft is expected to be out of action for another two weeks while repairs are made.
Reader views (14)
I am fed up with all of this survielance and spying on everyone, cameras cameras cameras everywhere. So I totally support the smashing up of spying equipment.
- Joe Jones, Leicester UK, 15/05/2009 10:08
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EDITED by admin @ 9.39am on Mat 15 2009
Religious/Racial
- Frank, Home Counties, England., 15/05/2009 08:48
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Confiscate anything worth taking to pay for the repairs.
DON'T GO SOFT ON THESE PEOPLE.
You need to make an example that his sort of thing willnot be tolerated.
IT'S VANDALISM TO POLICE PROPERTY.
- Rosie, Tucson, AZ, USA, 15/05/2009 07:35
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As I watch this band of Yobs who are given the Politically Correct branding of "Travellers" run rampant, defy authority, menace the cricket fields and rob, connive and destroy their way across your country, I wonder...When are you going to drop the polite bit and bash these gypsies to bits?
- John Lussier, Jacksonville, Florida, 15/05/2009 02:01
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As I read the papers each day I get more and more depressed at what a spineless, useless and shameful country I now live in. I used to be proud to be British and what it stood for but, this country is really the pits at the moment. I work very hard, pay a lot of tax, which gets wasted by this governement and the in-justice system protects the bad and punishes the good! Welcome to the mad-house!
- Mike, Esher, Surrey, 14/05/2009 22:43
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I wonder if those travellers will be arrested and charged. They won't be, we all know that
- Ebin Donk, angus scotland, 14/05/2009 21:48
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I bet they left a right mess behind as well.
- Carl, London, 14/05/2009 15:52
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so using a helicopter is the latest way to gather evidence. i think the police just enjoyed the jolly. and i wait with bated breath for the first arrests. and no cctv camera at the police base?. pathetic. maybe the so called travellers would be better off asking the police to escort them on their raids
- Mikeee, peterborough uk, 14/05/2009 15:22
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Sounds like a terrorist act to me. Arrest the lot of them and bang them up in one of the older prisons.
- Alan Preen, McLean, Texas, USA., 14/05/2009 15:16
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Travellers in the U.K. live in a world of their own, not subject to U.K. law. They can do whatever they want, and those standing in their way have no rights. At least that is the way that some U.K. judges have interpreted existing laws in the recent past. As with Parliamentary spending, the U.K. taxpayer always gets the short end of the stick. The French had their revolution in the eighteenth century; it seems well time that the British showed a bit of backbone and went after the ruling classes (MPs, judges) in the twentieth century. (Speaker Michael Martin's indignation the other day at Kate Hoey's perfectly proper question on MP spending reminded me of Marie saying "Let them eat cake!")
- Phil Jones, London UK, 14/05/2009 14:38
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"They threatened operation room staff", were there no policemen working there? If they called for assistance how long was the response time? If the Police can no longer even protect their own staff it's time to let the public arm themselves.
- Mark, London, 14/05/2009 13:38
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Gentle travelling folk doing this ?
Surely not - it must have been tax paying citizens with jobs so we need to bring in more laws to hit this dangerous group hard and leave these gentle travellers alone to create toilets out of green fields in peace !
- Dixon Kipretich, Ugley, Essex, 14/05/2009 13:38
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And of course nothing will be done about this as it would be against their human rights. hat a sad, sorry and twisted world we now live in thanks to 12 years of NU Lab.
- Duncan Walker, Ex Peckham now Thailand, 14/05/2009 13:38
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Fairoaks airport anyone can walk into easy. Does a 4ft fence stop a bunch of gypsies who can turn an African Savana into a caravan site in a bank holiday I think not.perhaps the police can pass the camp details to the RAF on their next bombing run!
- Fly, london, 14/05/2009 13:38
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