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Belgravia mansion that squatters turned into homeless shelter attacked by Nazi-saluting gang

Objects thrown through window of £15m property that has since been evicted

Thomas Goulding,Matt Capon
Wednesday 01 February 2017 15:53 GMT
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'Fascists' smash windows of Belgravia squat

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Throwing bricks and bottles, a group of people making Nazi salutes attacked a £15 million home in London's exclusive Belgravia neighbourhood that had been turned into a homeless shelter by squatters.

The property in Eaton Square is owned by the billionaire Russian banker, Andrey Goncharenko, but it was taken over by members of a group calling itself the Autonomous Nation of Anarchist Libertarians, or ANAL.

They gained entry through an open window on 23 January and had used the five-storey, grade II-listed mansion to shelter up to 20 homeless people.

But before they were evicted earlier this week, the squatters were attacked by a group black-hooded clothing outside.

Video shows a window smashed at the front of the property.

Bricks, bottles and poles were thrown at the building while some families and children inside the property took cover.

“Members of the right-wing came down”, said Jed Miller, 25, an organiser of the squat. He added that they “started threatening us, putting bricks and holes through the windows.”

Mr Miller said they called London's Metropolitan Police and received protection from officers even though they did not own the property.

He said an inspector had called them to make sure we were safe,” said Miller. During the attack, the group also posted SOS messages on Twitter asking for reinforcements.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said they had been called out "to reports of a disturbance involving a group outside a non-residential property".

They added: "The suspects made off before officers arrived. Officers have conducted local searches and are patrolling the local area. There have been no arrests. Inquiries continue.”

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