Midlothian resident John Moore, backed by around ten supporters, stood up to the sheriff officers sent by the Pentland Park site owner to evict him from his mobile home at Loanhead, on 17th March. Sheriff at bay. Protesters block the path to stop sheriff Cunningham gaining access to John's home. As police stood by, John’s supporters crammed together on his garden path and blocked access to sheriff officer William Cunningham and the landlord’s lackeys. The anti eviction protesters succeeded in stopping the sheriff’s men from nailing shut the door to John’s home. John and supporters outside his mobile home at Pentland Park, Loanhead John has been waging a long-running legal battle against what he considers to be illegal practices by mobile home site owners throughout Britain. He has taken a principled stand by refusing to pay his rent, and has been arguing his case through the courts. The latest court judgement however ignored his arguments and granted his landlord the right to evict him. Sheriff officer William Cunningham driving his red Vauxhall Astra NVO2 EWG. "I'm only doing my job," he explained. His employers are sheriff officers Thomas Hannah and Co., 9 Mansfield Place Edinburgh EH3 6NB Tel 0131 556 8601. They also have offices in Dunfermline. The partner in the firm is Robert I. Runciman.
http://www.thomashannah.co.uk After a stand-off between the sheriff’s men and his supporters, John eventually felt he had no alternative but to leave his home of 20 years. However - undoubtedly due to the support he received - the Pentland Park site owner did agree not to bar shut John’s caravan, thus enabling John to store his belongings there and collect them later. John vowed to continue his campaign for the rights of mobile home residents. He has mustered detailed legal arguments to prove that site owners are illegally ripping off site residents. John declared the events at Loanhead on the 17th “an illegal eviction�. One of John’s supporters, Michael Quinn of the Autonomous Centre of Edinburgh, told Indymedia : �This is outrageous. John has been a good neighbour here for twenty years, and now the landlord is using the law to make him homeless. We need to build up grassroots networks of people prepared to physically stop such evictions, and also other injustices like debt poindings.� * It is hoped to shortly reproduce John’s legal arguments concerning the situation of mobile home residents, and his eviction.