Paedophile protesters have agree to stop their Pembroke demonstrations "for now."
Protesters have been holding almost nightly demonstrations after a convicted paedophile was due to move to a flat on King William Street, Pembroke Dock, last Wednesday (October 2).
That evening protests moved to Ashdale Lane in Pembroke, where the man was believed to be staying with a family member.
Further protests were then carried out on Friday, Saturday and Sunday on Ashdale Lane, each time drawing crowds of between 30 and 50 people.
Police held a two-hour meeting with protesters yesterday (Monday, October 7), which superintendent Ross Evans said was a positive step forward. However, Mr Evans acknowledged the police needed to make changes in its approach communicating with the community.
“We have had a positive meeting with the group, we have listened to the community and they have agreed, in principle, to stop protesting for now,” Mr Evans said.
“We need to have better communication locally, so we don’t have to have these protests again. No one wants to see what we had at the weekend.
“We have tried to give some clear reassurance [to the group] that we are doing everything we can.
“We are pleased with how everything went, we agreed to communicate better and we will work together [with the community].
“People need to have the right to protest but if there’s no need for it, if we can sort it out behind closed doors, then we should.”
A member of the protest group, who did not wish to be named, agreed that the meeting had been positive.
“We have agreed to stop protesting until Friday," she said.
“It was a very amicable meeting. They raised concerns about the elderly people there, but we have tried to be as quiet as possible, we have tried to make it peaceful for them. But we need to think about those kids that could be stuck in their homes afraid to go out.
“The police, to be fair, listened to everything we had to say and it was a far better meeting than we thought it would be.
“It seemed like [Mr Evans] was doing everything he could to help us.”
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