Father fears for his two children in HS2 protests as bailiffs dig down

Veteran protester 'Swampy' is in the tunnel
John Dunne @jhdunne5 February 2021

The father of two anti-HS2 protestors in the tunnels underneath Euston Square said he "feared for their lives" as Bailiffs are digging parallel tunnels in an attempt to snare them.

A group of at least six activists have spent more than a week in a network of tunnels at the front of the station including Roc Sandford's children Blue and Lazer.

The 63-year-old said he was proud of their protest but says he is "scared he may never see them again" and criticised bailiffs for trying to remove them.

"Lazer, who is locked in the downshaft, keeps getting things dropped on him, choked, put in wrist locks or being stood or sat on," Mr Sandford told the BBC.

"I was really scared they would die down there and I would never see them again."

They are fighting the high-speed rail link which they claim is a threat to wildlife and is ruining valuable green space.

One of the activists in the tunnels is said to have left the group that includes veteran environmental campaigner Swampy, real name Daniel Hooper, and his son Rory.

An HS2 Ltd spokesperson said: “One of the illegal trespassers has voluntarily left the underground tunnel this evening, and we urge the others to follow.

On-site paramedics offered immediate medical assistance, which was refused. The trespasser was then arrested by the Metropolitan Police and taken to a London hospital as a precaution."

Earlier this week a High Court judge rejected a legal bid to halt efforts to evict the protesters.

Dr Larch Maxey, one of the demonstrators, said that bailiffs had dug a parallel “down shaft” and connected it to the protesters’ one.

Bailiffs tried to remove another environmental campaigner from a “lock-on” at the bottom of a down shaft where he had chained himself.

The demonstrator, Lazer Sandford, attached himself to a tunnel using a device made of steel and concrete around his arm.

HS2 Rebellion group, an alliance of groups and individuals campaigning against the scheme, said on Friday that Lazer remained in place, estimating it would take several hours before the device could be opened.

In a statement from HS2 Rebellion, Lazer said: “I’m only doing this because I don’t have a choice.

“I shouldn’t have to, but we are now in a total emergency. The lives of people in my generation are being risked by carbon-guzzling vanity projects like HS2.

“HS2 uses huge amounts of high carbon steel and concrete and it will only make the climate emergency worse.”

An HS2 Ltd spokesman said: “The safety of those trespassing and that of the HS2 staff and emergency service personnel in this operation is of paramount importance.

“We are doing all we can to end this illegal action safely, and progress has been made with access secured to the underground tunnel.

“As has been reported this morning, the illegal trespassers have attached themselves underground, which increases the danger to themselves, but also to our team and the emergency services.

“The High Court this week issued an order to require the illegal occupiers to leave their tunnel. Dr Maxey still hasn’t complied with the court order, which also told him to provide information on the tunnels and its occupants.

“We urge Dr Maxey to comply with the order as soon as possible – for his safety and the safety of the other activists and the HS2 staff and agents tasked with removing them from the danger they have put themselves in.”

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