The 'travellers', who are not really Gypsies (Rom) but more akin to the Irish 'tinkers', have been around for centuries in England, causing problems of various kinds, mostly sneak-theft and confidence games but occasionally violence.
Typical here that the violence is against property rather than persons, although the travellers have always felt that the police were fair game.
As Sherlock Holmes said in "The Solitary Cyclist", these guys are "our own home-grown article."
I am glad to see you are putting the whole business into it's right context. I have mentioned before that a research book got to the root of the matter. You will have the real story, I know, but for others following this on FR, "Gypsies" became politically incorrect and "Traveller" was substituted. Now, it is given that using the documentation re census and births, marriages and deaths, there are very few of these parasites, that can trace any Romany descent.
"Gypsies" then came back into style for the "real" Romany. They themselves demanded it. The case of Farmer Martin comes to mind, he shot two of the intruders, he had been burgled 24 times. To prison he went. He is out now though.
My native country has almost gone mad.