High Court backs ban on gypsy

A ban on Gypsy at Horsmonden, Kent, was upheld at the High Court in London 
yesterday, despite opposition from the Gypsy Council, the National Romany 
Rights Association and the civil rights group Liberty.


Deputy Judge David Pannick QC rejected claims that the ban imposed by 
Tunbridge Wells Borough Council was an "over-reaction" and that the fair was
 "fundamental to one of the ethnic minority groups in Britain".

He said: "The borough council and the Secretary of State considered in the light 
of the policing concerns that the disruption to the life of the local community was 
of paramount concern and the need to avoid such disruption should take priority 
over the interests of the Romany community."

Mr Straw angered gypsies with comments in a radio interview last year, when he
said: "Many of these so-called travellers seem to think that it is perfectly OK for
them to cause mayhem in an area, to go burgling, thieving, breaking into
vehicles, causing all kinds of trouble, including defecating in the doorways of firms
and so on, and getting away with it."