Tuesday, August 28, 2018

St Mungo's: Discrimination; Declan's claim against the Mayor of London's service for the Central London County Court. Still no response from St Mungo's CEO Howard Sinclair to Declan's pre-action letter (WITH UPDATE 30/8/2018)

Let's hope that your beautifully reasoned and explained case will be reviewed by someone who is not out to get you.
-Don Collins, President of ISAF, an NGO dedicated to helping women


The Central London County Court is located in the Royal Courts of Justice.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan.

Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms formulates what is the core of free speech. "Everyone has the right to freedom of expression." In an important interpretation of this article, the European Court of Human Rights in Handyside v. UK (1976) indicated that this "freedom of expression" should be construed as follows. It "is applicable not only to 'information' or 'ideas' that are favourably received, or regarded as inoffensive, or as a matter of indifference, but also to those that offend, shock or disturb the State or any sector of the population." Such are the demands of that pluralism, tolerance and broadmindedness without which there is no "democratic society" (see Cliteur, 2010).
Heavey v St Mungo's (2016)

St Mungo's Executive Director Dominic Williamson successfully had Declan's claim for £400 (in costs alone) dismissed by writing in a Witness Statement to the Central London County Court that St Mungo's were "keen to work with Mr Heavey to ensure that he remains securely housed and does not face homelessness again". (He also maintained and argued the point in two court hearings before two different District Court judges.) It took the scheduling of a preliminary hearing in October 2016 to have case notes from two meetings rectified by Williamson as Declan had requested all along; and that rectification only took place after a failed attempt by an international firm of solicitors, Osborne Clarke, to have Declan's claim struck out on the papers. The judge at the preliminary hearing dismissed St Mungo's application to strike out Declan's claim for compensation, and District Judge Avent's order dated 11 March 2017 does not state why he dismissed the claim.

20 February 2017: The Central London County Court: District Judge Avent dismisses Declan's claim against the Greater London Authority-commissioned St Mungo's that alleged the falsification and fabrication of data against us (WITH UPDATE 16/3/2017)

Declan and I are tenants of the Clearing House, which is run by St Mungo's on behalf of the Mayor of London (see paragraph 1 in Particulars of claim below). For almost four months we have been battling this charity to stabilise our tenancy. First it was problems with the renewal of our tenancy, which took 62 days from the renewal date and the threat of immediate court action to resolve. For over two months (since 25 June), it has been problems with inaccurate case notes that got even more serious this month - St Mungo's Executive Director Dominic Williamson is knowingly (since Declan voicemailed him on 1 August) holding against me notes he assured the court last year had been rectified by him as someone with "senior responsibility in St Mungo's for information security and governance". And there's more besides. In the continued absence of a reply from St Mungo's CEO Howard Sinclair to Declan's pre-action letter dated 20 August 2018 (see here), Declan's claim against St Mungo's is on track to be filed in the Central London County Court next week. Such is the threat to our tenancy (see Particulars of Claim, para. 7):

Brief details of claim

Since 17 May 2014, the Claimant and his wife have been tenants of the Clearing House, which is run by the Defendant on behalf of the Mayor of London. For almost four months, the Claimant has been battling the Defendant to stabilise his tenancy. First it was problems with the renewal of his and his wife's tenancy agreement, which took 62 days from the renewal date and the threat of immediate court action to resolve. For over two months, since 25 June 2018, it has been problems with inaccurate case notes, which got even more serious on 1 August 2018 when the Claimant discovered that notes the Defendant's Executive Director Dominic Williamson assured the court last year had been rectified by him were in fact held and are still being held under the Claimant's wife's name. The Defendant has also made the decision not to provide the Claimant with a like-for-like Tenancy Sustainment Team Worker (i.e., such as his wife was assigned last June), and insisted upon an enforced joint visit(s) against his expressed wishes. These serial breaches of the Human Rights Act 1998 constitute discrimination, a type of harassment, and a threat to life. The Claimant is therefore making an application to the Court for a declaration that the Defendant has acted unlawfully and in dereliction of its duty. The Claimant seeks damages for distress and costs.

Value

The Claimant expects to recover not more than £1,000.

Particulars of Claim

1. The Claimant and his wife are tenants of the Clearing House, which is run by the Defendant on behalf of the Mayor of London. The Clearing House provides supported housing in London for people with a history of rough sleeping. The Claimant and his wife are living in a Clearing House property owned by Peabody Housing Association. The Greater London Authority (GLA) funds and commissions the Clearing House and related Tenancy Sustainment Teams (TSTs) to the tune of £2.6 million per year. On 17 May 2014, the Claimant and his wife were housed by the Mayor of London's Housing First, an internationally acclaimed programme for rough sleepers, the core principle of which is the provision of permanent accommodation and non-compulsory support. GLA Housing First was a pilot project commissioned in March 2012 for a period of three years. When the Housing First pilot ended in March 2015, the Claimant and his wife "reverted to being standard Clearing House tenants" (GLA, 2015). According to the Defendant's website, support from TSTs was introduced in 2000 to "all new tenants and those already in tenancies who required support".

2. It has been acknowledged by the GLA that the Claimant and his wife can live independently – they do not have addictions or mental illness or behavioural issues. Their support needs are solely connected to the belief-related discrimination, harassment and victimisation they have encountered since moving to England in 2003 from Ireland to contact other victims of church abuse with a view to forming an organisation. They have been twice forced to sleep rough on the streets of London, for almost four years in total. Since February 2014, through funding from America, both the Claimant and his wife have been part-time employed by Network for Church Monitoring, a non-profit organisation the Claimant founded in 2011. The Claimant has recently challenged the violation of his rights under Article 19 (freedom of expression) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights by way of an updated complaint to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.[1]

3. For almost four months, since the beginning of May 2018, the Claimant has been battling the Defendant to stabilise his and his wife's tenancy. First it was problems with the renewal of their tenancy agreement which took two months (62 days) from the renewal date and the threat of immediate court action to resolve. On 15 May 2018, the Claimant issued the GLA with a letter before claim, in which he averred that the decision not to reissue another tenancy for two former rough sleepers with support needs amounted to a type of harassment and a death threat. The next day, on 16 May 2018, during a meeting with the Claimant and his wife at their home, representatives for the Defendant and Peabody agreed to a like-for-like renewal of tenancy. Subsequently, however, the Claimant and his wife received a tenancy agreement in serial breach of the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA), forcing the Claimant to issue Defendant CEO Howard Sinclair a pre-action letter on 22 May 2018. The Claimant did not receive a like-for-like tenancy agreement from Peabody until 17 July 2018, notwithstanding the Claimant's repeated protestations of a threat to his life (see paragraph 7 below).

4. For over two months, the Claimant and his wife have been dealing with problems with inaccurate case notes. This started following a first meeting on 25 June 2018 between the Claimant's wife and her newly assigned TST Worker. The problems got more serious on 1 August 2018 when the Claimant discovered that case notes the Defendant's Executive Director Dominic Williamson assured the court last year had been rectified by him were in fact held and are still being held under the Claimant's wife's name. When the Claimant asked Mr. Williamson to rectify these notes, he replied: "If you [sic] wife is [sic] wants to change what her record says she should speak to her TST worker in the first instance. If this does not resolve the issue then she can use the St. Mungo's complaints procedure." The Claimant contends that this response is wholly unacceptable and clearly shows that the Defendant has not been handling his and his wife's personal data in a transparent and fair manner.

5. During the meeting of 16 May 2018 referred to in paragraph 3 above, the Defendant also assured the Claimant that he would be assigned a TST Worker such as his wife would be assigned following the meeting. The Claimant had been requesting this like-for-like TST Worker since before his support case was opened with the Defendant on 22 April 2016. Nonetheless, on 2 July 2018, the Claimant was assigned Mark Farley, whom his line manager has defined as a TST Worker "in essence" only. The Claimant believes this is because Mr. Farley is at the very least a senior caseworker. The Claimant does not need or want a senior caseworker for the sort of straightforward support he requires. Further, Mr. Farley and his line manager have been insistent upon a joint visit(s) against the Claimant's own wishes and in clear breach of Article 8 (protection of family life and home) and Article 14 (prohibition of discrimination) of the HRA. The Claimant's repeated requests to be assigned a like-for-like TST Worker, such as his wife was assigned on 8 June 2018, have all but been ignored by the Defendant; and this notwithstanding that the Claimant does not wish to work with Mr. Farley, who has been so willing to override his wishes and is therefore clearly not tailored to meet his needs.

6. On 20 August 2018, the Claimant issued the Defendant's CEO a second pre-action letter. In this letter, the Claimant asked the Defendant to provide him with a clear written explanation of why the decision has been made not to provide him with a like-for-like TST Worker (i.e., such as his wife was assigned last June), and to insist upon an enforced joint visit(s) against his expressed wishes. The Claimant also insisted upon a full explanation of Mr. Williamson's retention of case notes against his wife that had already been the subject of court proceedings. The Claimant advised the Defendant that any further delay in providing him with a like-for-like TST Worker before 12 September 2018 may have serious consequences for both him and his wife; and that for that reason, if he did not receive a full response within 14 days of the date of the letter, he would issue court proceedings without further notice. The Defendant has not replied to the Claimant's pre-action letter to this date.

7. The Defendant's decision to insist upon a senior caseworker who the Claimant does not wish to work with can result in his and his wife's eviction from their home. Their tenancy agreement with Peabody states: "We have granted this tenancy to help provide support services to you. If you refuse to co-operate in providing the support services or refuse to accept the services provided, we may treat this as you breaking your tenancy." The Defendant's insistence upon such an arrangement also poses a threat to life. The Claimant is in his late fifties and has a history of respiratory diseases. During the Claimant's first period of homelessness, he was twice hospitalised, once with pneumonia. Near the end of the Claimant's second period of homelessness, he was diagnosed with asthma. Back on the streets, the Claimant and his wife will be restricted to sleeping on night buses. They were forced into this predicament prior to coming off the streets the second time because of an excessive use of force by police officers to move them out of where they had been sleeping, which included the Claimant's wife being threatened with arrest on the trumped-up charge of assaulting a police officer.

8. The Claimant contends that the Defendant has serially breached the HRA. First it was problems with the renewal of his and his wife's tenancy agreement, which took two months from the renewal date and the threat of immediate court action to resolve. For over two months (since 25 June 2018), it has been problems with inaccurate case notes, which got even more serious on 1 August 2018 when the Claimant discovered that notes the Defendant assured the court last year had been rectified are in fact being held under the Claimant's wife's name. And for almost two months (since 2 July 2018), the Defendant has not provided the Claimant with a like-for-like TST Worker nor a valid reason for an enforced joint visit(s) against his expressed wishes. These serial breaches of the HRA constitute discrimination, a type of harassment, and a threat to life. The Claimant is therefore making an application to the Court for a declaration that the Defendant has acted unlawfully and in dereliction of its duty. Alternatively, the Claimant asks that leave to appeal be granted.

_________________________________

[1] 8 May 2018: Threat to life: Updated complaint to the United Nations under Article 19 (freedom of expression) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Today we are cut off the internet for a half an hour

Last May St Mungo's made the international press for all the wrong reasons. They are accused of helping to get rough sleepers arrested and deported. When the story came through my Russia Today (RT) news feed on 14 May, it left Declan gob smacked. He has spoken with Diane Taylor, the journalist who is covering the story for the Guardian. This is her update article on the scandal:


Update 30 August (11.30am): It never occurred to Declan to ask Williamson in court last year whether or not he had also rectified the same data under my name. But the cat is out of the bag now and the issue is currently on a very swift journey back to the Central London County Court. Declan has just been informed by the Information Commissioner's Office that his complaint to them last week against Williamson has been set up as a new case, but it hasn't been assigned to a case officer. The cases they are picking up this week are cases they received at the end of May, Declan was told. See my previous blog post of 23 August, Information Commissioner's Office tells Declan that he should have received an auto-reply and to phone back tomorrow to enquire whether or not his email this afternoon has been received (WITH UPDATE 30/8/2018). This means that Declan's claim above is now fast tracked for filing in the court early next week. Meanwhile, category pages throughout our Church and State website continue to be hit hard. For example, the second article below has over 1/2 million Facebook likes/shares (not zero):






http://churchandstate.org.uk/honorary-associates/

Thursday, August 23, 2018

Information Commissioner's Office tells Declan that he should have received an auto-reply and to phone back tomorrow to enquire whether or not his email this afternoon has been received (WITH UPDATE 30/8/2018)

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan.

Heavey v St Mungo's (2016)

St Mungo's Executive Director Dominic Williamson successfully had Declan's claim for £400 (in costs alone) dismissed by writing in a Witness Statement to the Central London County Court that St Mungo's were "keen to work with Mr Heavey to ensure that he remains securely housed and does not face homelessness again". (He also maintained and argued the point in two court hearings before two different District Court judges.) It took the scheduling of a preliminary hearing in October 2016 to have case notes from two meetings rectified by Williamson as Declan had requested all along; and that rectification only took place after a failed attempt by an international firm of solicitors, Osborne Clarke, to have Declan's claim struck out on the papers. The judge at the preliminary hearing dismissed St Mungo's application to strike out Declan's claim for compensation, and District Judge Avent's order dated 11 March 2017 does not state why he dismissed the claim.

20 February 2017: The Central London County Court: District Judge Avent dismisses Declan's claim against the Greater London Authority-commissioned St Mungo's that alleged the falsification and fabrication of data against us (WITH UPDATE 16/3/2017)

Declan asks the Information Commissioner's Office to investigate the issue of case notes St Mungo's Executive Director Dominic Williamson assured the court last year had been rectified by him (as someone with "senior responsibility in St Mungo's for information security and governance"), but are currently being held under my name:

Casework Team
Information Commissioner's Office

Address removed for email


23 August 2018

Dear Casework Team,

On 16 August I telephoned the Information Commissioner's Office about case notes St Mungo's Executive Director Dominic Williamson assured the court last year had been rectified by him but are currently being held under my wife's name.

On 20 August 2018, Mr Williamson responded as follows:

"If you [sic] wife is [sic] wants to change what her record says she should speak to her TST worker in the first instance. If this does not resolve the issue then she can use the St Mungo's complaints procedure."

My wife is currently writing for me Particulars of claim for the Central London County Court. The Brief details of claim are as follows:

"Since 17 May 2014, the Claimant and his wife have been tenants of the Clearing House, which is run by the Defendant on behalf of the Mayor of London. For almost four months, the Claimant has been battling the Defendant to stabilise his tenancy. First it was problems with the renewal of his and his wife's tenancy agreement, which took 62 days from the renewal date and the threat of immediate court action to resolve. For two months, since 25 June 2018, it has been problems with inaccurate case notes, which got even more serious on 1 August 2018 when the Claimant discovered that notes the Defendant's Executive Director Dominic Williamson assured the court last year had been rectified by him were in fact held and are still being held under the Claimant's wife's name [emphasis added]. The Defendant has also made the decision not to provide the Claimant with a like-for-like Tenancy Sustainment Team Worker (i.e., such as his wife was assigned last June), and insisted upon an enforced joint visit(s) against his expressed wishes. These serial breaches of the Human Rights Act 1998 constitute a type of harassment, discrimination, and a threat to life. The Claimant is therefore making an application to the Court for a declaration that the Defendant has acted unlawfully and in dereliction of its duty. The Claimant seeks damages for distress and costs."

Please could you write to St Mungo's to investigate the issue of case notes Mr Williamson assured the court last year had been rectified by him but are currently being held under my wife's name.

Yours sincerely,

Declan Heavey
Managing Director
Network for Church Monitoring
Declan's case notes from the first of two meetings as they currently stand:

"Met with Declan and Maria (Lola) at their home. Phoned Active Newham and was informed of the process of how to apply to the scheme. The application form has to be completed online and Lola was happy to complete this herself and attend the induction workshop."

My case notes from the same meeting as they currently stand:

"Met with Declan and Maria (Lola) at their property. Introduced myself and explained briefly the St Mungo's TST model. Both Declan and Lola said that currently they would like support to look into volunteering opportunities and are keen to link in with Active Newham. I called Active Newham and was informed of the process of how to apply to the scheme. Explained this to Lola and Declan. The application form has to be completed online and Lola was happy to complete this herself and attend the welcome evening."

https://issuu.com/lolaheavey/docs/witness-statement



Update 30 August (11.06am): Declan has just been informed by the ICO that his complaint against Williamson has been set up as a new case but it hasn't been assigned to a case officer. The cases they are picking up this week are cases they received at the end of May, Declan was told. This means that his case is now fast tracked for filing in the Central London County Court early next week, such is the threat to our tenancy; see my newer blog post, St Mungo's: Discrimination; Declan's claim against the Mayor of London's service for the Central London County Court. Still no response from St Mungo's CEO Howard Sinclair to Declan's pre-action letter. Last May St Mungo's made the international press for all the wrong reasons. They are accused of helping to get rough sleepers arrested and deported. When the story came through my Russia Today (RT) news feed on 14 May, it left Declan gob smacked. He has spoken with Diane Taylor, the journalist who is covering the story for the Guardian. This is her update article on the scandal:

Will the Mayor of London's St Mungo's service now put me to the trouble of drafting a second claim for the Central London County Court for filing on 3 September? DAY 3 of 14


The Central London County Court is located in the Royal Courts of Justice.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan.

Brief details of claim

Since 17 May 2014, the Claimant and his wife have been tenants of the Clearing House, which is run by the Defendant [St Mungo's] on behalf of the Mayor of London. For almost four months, the Claimant has been battling the Defendant to stabilise his tenancy. First it was problems with the renewal of his and his wife's tenancy agreement, which took 62 days from the renewal date and the threat of immediate court action to resolve. For two months, since 25 June 2018, it has been problems with inaccurate case notes, which got even more serious on 1 August 2018 when the Claimant discovered that notes the Defendant's Executive Director Dominic Williamson assured the court last year had been rectified by him were in fact held and are still being held under the Claimant's wife's name. The Defendant has also made the decision not to provide the Claimant with a like-for-like Tenancy Sustainment Team Worker (i.e., such as his wife was assigned last June), and insisted upon an enforced joint visit(s) against his expressed wishes. These serial breaches of the Human Rights Act 1998 constitute a type of harassment, discrimination, and a threat to life. The Claimant is therefore making an application to the Court for a declaration that the Defendant has acted unlawfully and in dereliction of its duty. The Claimant seeks damages for distress and costs.

Dominic Williamson (20/8/2018): "If you [sic] wife is [sic] wants to change what her record says she should speak to her TST worker in the first instance. If this does not resolve the issue then she can use the St Mungo’s complaints procedure."

From My Picks:

20 August (previous blog post): Our dispute with the Mayor of London's St Mungo's service over enforced joint visits rages on. Pre-action letter to St Mungo's CEO Howard Sinclair (WITH UPDATE - DAY 3 22/8/2018)

Monday, August 20, 2018

Our dispute with the Mayor of London's St Mungo's service over enforced joint visits rages on. Pre-action letter to St Mungo's CEO Howard Sinclair (WITH UPDATE - DAY 4 23/8/2018)

This is a splendid posting which in its moderate and modest tone should encourage many others to join you!!
http://churchandstate.org.uk/about/
-Don Collins, President of ISAF, an NGO dedicated to helping women

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan

Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms formulates what is the core of free speech. "Everyone has the right to freedom of expression." In an important interpretation of this article, the European Court of Human Rights in Handyside v. UK (1976) indicated that this "freedom of expression" should be construed as follows. It "is applicable not only to 'information' or 'ideas' that are favourably received, or regarded as inoffensive, or as a matter of indifference, but also to those that offend, shock or disturb the State or any sector of the population." Such are the demands of that pluralism, tolerance and broadmindedness without which there is no "democratic society" (see Cliteur, 2010).
Heavey v St Mungo's (2016)

St Mungo's Executive Director Dominic Williamson successfully had Declan's claim for £400 (in costs alone) dismissed by writing in a Witness Statement to the Central London County Court that St Mungo's were "keen to work with Mr Heavey to ensure that he remains securely housed and does not face homelessness again". (He also maintained and argued the point in two court hearings before two different District Court judges.) It took the scheduling of a preliminary hearing in October 2016 to have case notes from two meetings rectified by Williamson as Declan had requested all along; and that rectification only took place after a failed attempt by an international firm of solicitors, Osborne Clarke, to have Declan's claim struck out on the papers. The judge at the preliminary hearing dismissed St Mungo's application to strike out Declan's claim for compensation, and District Judge Avent's order dated 11 March 2017 does not state why he dismissed the claim.

20 February 2017: The Central London County Court: District Judge Avent dismisses Declan's claim against the Greater London Authority-commissioned St Mungo's that alleged the falsification and fabrication of data against us (WITH UPDATE 16/3/2017)

Declan and I are tenants of the Clearing House, which is run by St Mungo's on behalf of the Mayor of London; see my blog post of 14 July, DAY 59 living in limbo (threat to life): Declan has worked inaccurate personal data into his claim against the Greater London Authority-commissioned St Mungo's for filing in the Central London County Court (WITH UPDATE 24/7/2018). Declan's claim against St Mungo's in pursuance of Article 8 (protection of family life and home) and Article 14 (prohibition of discrimination) of the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA) remains active, albeit in a different form. For almost four months we have been battling this charity to stabilise our tenancy. First it was problems with the renewal of our tenancy, which took 62 days and the threat of immediate court action to resolve. For almost two months (since 25 June), it has been problems with inaccurate personal data that got even more serious this month - St Mungo's Executive Director Dominic Williamson is knowingly (since Declan voicemailed him on 1 August) holding against me data he assured the court last year had been rectified by him as someone with "senior responsibility in St Mungo's for information security and governance". And for over a month (since 10 July), it has been enforced joint visits. This is Declan's second pre-action letter to St Mungo's CEO Howard Sinclair under the same two articles of the HRA:

20 August 2018

Pre-Action Letter

Dear Mr Sinclair,

Re: Non-compliance with the Human Rights Act 1998

On 23 July 2018, I wrote to St Mungo's Executive Director Dominic Williamson about an enforced joint visit(s). Almost a month has passed and no response has been received. I am sure that enforced joint visits are in contravention of Article 8 (protection of family life and home) and Article 14 (prohibition of discrimination) of the Human Rights Act 1998.

Since 1 August 2018, I have also repeatedly brought to Mr Williamson's attention the fact that he is retaining personal data against my wife that he assured the court last year had been rectified by him. I have received no response from Mr Williamson on this issue either.

Please could you provide me with a clear written explanation of why the decision has been made not to provide me with a like-for-like Tenancy Sustainment Team (TST) Worker (i.e., such as my wife was assigned last June), and to insist upon an enforced joint visit(s) against my expressed wishes. I would also insist upon a full explanation of Mr Williamson's retention of data against my wife that has already been the subject of court proceedings.

Time is of the essence, as any further delay in providing me with a like-for-like TST Worker before 12 September may have serious consequences in the long run. Therefore, if I do not receive a full response from you within 14 days of the date of this letter, I intend to issue court proceedings without further notice.

Yours sincerely,

Declan Heavey
Managing Director
Network for Church Monitoring

Last May St Mungo's made the international press for all the wrong reasons. They are accused of helping to get rough sleepers arrested and deported. When the story came through my Russia Today (RT) news feed on 14 May, it left Declan gob smacked. He has spoken with Diane Taylor, the journalist who is covering the story for the Guardian. This is her update article on the scandal:


DAY 4 UPDATE 23 August (2.38pm): It never occurred to Declan to ask Williamson in court last year whether or not he had also rectified the same data under my name. But the cat is out of the bag now and could very well be on a very swift journey back to the Central London County Court in London's Royal Courts of Justice. Today Declan does not consider one issue resolved since his pre-action letter above (DAY 4). Yesterday he brought the issue of assigned TST Worker to the attention of St Mungo's complaints, so bad have the last couple of days been. And this afternoon he has brought the issue of data to the attention of the Information Commissioner's Office; see my blog post this afternoon, Information Commissioner's Office tells Declan that he should have received an auto-reply and to phone back tomorrow to enquire whether or not his email this afternoon has been received. Last Monday Declan received a phone call from St Mungo's TST Manager Robert Buck about the contents of his pre-action letter above. Buck effectively said (on tape) that he owns the issues to resolution!
Brief details of claim

Since 17 May 2014, the Claimant and his wife have been tenants of the Clearing House, which is run by the Defendant on behalf of the Mayor of London. For almost four months, the Claimant has been battling the Defendant to stabilise his tenancy. First it was problems with the renewal of his and his wife's tenancy agreement, which took 62 days from the renewal date and the threat of immediate court action to resolve. For two months, since 25 June 2018, it has been problems with inaccurate case notes, which got even more serious on 1 August 2018 when the Claimant discovered that notes the Defendant's Executive Director Dominic Williamson assured the court last year had been rectified by him were in fact held and are still being held under the Claimant's wife's name. The Defendant has also made the decision not to provide the Claimant with a like-for-like Tenancy Sustainment Team Worker (i.e., such as his wife was assigned last June), and insisted upon an enforced joint visit(s) against his expressed wishes. These serial breaches of the Human Rights Act 1998 constitute a type of harassment, discrimination, and a threat to life. The Claimant is therefore making an application to the Court for a declaration that the Defendant has acted unlawfully and in dereliction of its duty. The Claimant seeks damages for distress and costs.

Williamson (20/8/2018): "If you [sic] wife is [sic] wants to change what her record says she should speak to her TST worker in the first instance. If this does not resolve the issue then she can use the St Mungo’s complaints procedure."


The Central London County Court is located in the Royal Courts of Justice.

UK Athletics: Will UKA respond today to Declan's complaint about UKA Welfare's Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check? (WITH UPDATE 20/8/2018)



On 16 August 2018 at 15:39, HR UKA wrote:
Thank you for your enquiry.

This has been received by the HR department and will be responded to within 2 working days.

If your query will require more time then you will be notified.

Kind Regards,

HR Team

17 August: UK Athletics: Has UKA Welfare cost Declan his voluntary position with children and adults with learning disabilities? (WITH UPDATE 18/8/2018)

UPDATE 20 August (9.31am): Declan has just received this response from UKA Welfare:

On 20 August 2018 at 09:25, David Brown (Welfare Officer) wrote:
Declan

Yes your DBS certificate does clear you to work with adults with learning difficulty. The adult barred list check only relates to those working in the care setting and does not relate to athletics so in law we are not allowed to request this check.

Regards

David

David Brown CBE
Welfare and Lead Safeguarding Officer
UK Athletics


http://churchandstate.org.uk/honorary-associates/

Sunday, August 19, 2018

Declan requests the support of the Mayor of London's St Mungo's service to secure his voluntary position with children and adults with learning disabilities

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan.

Heavey v St Mungo's (2016)

St Mungo's Executive Director Dominic Williamson successfully had Declan's claim for £400 (in costs alone) dismissed by writing in a Witness Statement to the Central London County Court that St Mungo's were "keen to work with Mr Heavey to ensure that he remains securely housed and does not face homelessness again". (He also maintained and argued the point in two court hearings before two different District Court judges.) It took the scheduling of a preliminary hearing in October 2016 to have case notes from two meetings rectified by Williamson as Declan had requested all along; and that rectification only took place after a failed attempt by an international firm of solicitors, Osborne Clarke, to have Declan's claim struck out on the papers. The judge at the preliminary hearing dismissed St Mungo's application to strike out Declan's claim for compensation, and District Judge Avent's order dated 11 March 2017 does not state why he dismissed the claim.

20 February 2017: The Central London County Court: District Judge Avent dismisses Declan's claim against the Greater London Authority-commissioned St Mungo's that alleged the falsification and fabrication of data against us (WITH UPDATE 16/3/2017)

Dominic Williamson
Executive Director
St Mungo's

Address removed for email


19 August 2018

Dear Mr Williamson,

Further to my email of 13 August, please find below my UK Athletics (UKA) Stage 1 complaint about my UKA Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check. I am waiting for UKA Complaints to respond to my complaint.

I am a former physical education teacher, who has taught in one of Ireland's top schools (Glenstal Abbey). Last June I qualified as an assistant coach with UKA. I have been spectating at XXX twice a week since 13 June with a view to becoming a volunteer assistant coach at the club.

XXX works in partnership with XXX, and is affiliated to Special Olympics GB. However, my Enhanced DBS certificate, which I received on 16 August, only clearly allows me to work with children because it says clearance to work with adults was "not requested".

Nowhere in my UKA DBS application did I specify children alone. XXX caters for adults with learning disabilities as well as children. Age: 8-25.

This means that my voluntary position at XXX is currently at risk. I therefore once again urgently request that St Mungo's provide me with a 'like-for-like' Tenancy Sustainment Team North Case Worker or TST Worker (i.e., such as my wife was assigned last June) in order to discuss with me the possibilities around securing my voluntary position at the club until it has been secured.

It is noteworthy that I had to request an Escalation with the Metropolitan Police before finally receiving my enhanced certificate 77 days after UKA sent my application to the DBS for checking. The Enhanced DBS process can take 21 days or less, according to UKA.

XXX reconvenes on 12 September after a holiday break. Any further delay in providing me with a like-for-like TST Worker might well prove fatal to my chances of securing my voluntary position at the club and have serious consequences in the long run.

Yours sincerely,

Declan Heavey
Managing Director
Network for Church Monitoring

17 August (my previous blog post): UK Athletics: Has UKA Welfare cost Declan his voluntary position with children and adults with learning disabilities? (WITH UPDATE 18/8/2018)

Friday, August 17, 2018

UK Athletics: Has UKA Welfare cost Declan his voluntary position with children and adults with learning disabilities? (WITH UPDATE 18/8/2018)

Utter absurdity
Seems like the world is falling into a mad insane asylum!!
-Don Collins, President of ISAF, an NGO dedicated to helping women
Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms formulates what is the core of free speech. "Everyone has the right to freedom of expression." In an important interpretation of this article, the European Court of Human Rights in Handyside v. UK (1976) indicated that this "freedom of expression" should be construed as follows. It "is applicable not only to 'information' or 'ideas' that are favourably received, or regarded as inoffensive, or as a matter of indifference, but also to those that offend, shock or disturb the State or any sector of the population." Such are the demands of that pluralism, tolerance and broadmindedness without which there is no "democratic society" (see Cliteur, 2010).


Declan is a former physical education teacher, who has taught in one of Ireland's top schools (Glenstal Abbey). Last June he qualified as an assistant coach with UK Athletics (UKA). Since 13 June, he has been volunteering twice a week with children and adults with learning disabilities. He has only been allowed to spectate, with very minimal involvement, pending the manager's receipt yesterday of his Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) certificate. Declan had to request an Escalation with the Metropolitan Police before finally receiving his Enhanced Certificate 77 days after UKA sent his application to the DBS for checking. (The Enhanced DBS process can take 21 days or less, according to UKA Welfare.) But the enhanced certificate Declan has received only clearly allows him to work with children because it says clearance to work with adults was "not requested". He is waiting for UKA to confirm whether or not he needs to go through the whole process again before the disability club reconvenes on 12 September after a holiday break. The club is affiliated to Special Olympics GB. There is no other club like it in the London Borough of Newham. This is Declan's Stage 1 complaint to UKA yesterday:

For the attention of UKA Complaints

David Brown
Welfare Manager
UK Athletics

Address removed for email


16 August 2018

Dear Mr Brown,

Please find attached my enhanced DBS certificate, received today. I have just spoken with Steve Gordon, UKA Welfare Administrator, who is cc'd on this email.

Please can you confirm that my DBS certificate clears me to work with adults with learning disabilities.

Please note that the position I applied for was not "Child Workforce Assistant Coach". I applied to work as a Coaching Assistant for children and adults (with learning disabilities).

Nowhere in my application did I specify children alone.

Yours sincerely,

Declan Heavey

6 August: DAY 67 UKA DBS check: Declan has to raise an Escalation with the Metropolitan Police if he wants to keep volunteering with children and adults with learning disabilities (WITH UPDATE - DAY 68 7/8/2018)

UPDATE 18 August (10.12am): UKA Welfare assures Declan that his DBS certificate clears him to work with adults with learning disabilities, even though clearance to work with adults was "not requested". We can only assume that when the disability club reconvenes on 12 September, Declan will not be told otherwise. I have just updated my previous blog post of 16 August, British Telecom: Tonight we are cut off the Internet for a record-breaking 1 1/4 hours. BT tell Declan that it will take them a minimum of 5 days to replace our hub (WITH UPDATE - DAY 3 18/8/2018). We pay BT £70 per month (£850 per year) for BT Infinity 2 fibre optic broadband. Yesterday we were cut off the internet for an unprecedented total of 3 3/4 hours. We've already been cut off the internet once this morning, and have absolutely no idea for how many hours we will be cut off the internet today, or for the next three days for that matter.


Re: Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ)

Paragraph 12 of Declan's updated complaint to the United Nations under Article 19 (freedom of expression) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

12. It is important to underscore that the discriminatory surveillance suffered by the Applicant and his wife is not an isolated event. Rather, it is emblematic of a larger pattern of surveillance by law enforcement officials in the UK that has been well-documented by international and domestic human rights bodies. For example, GCHQ's Joint Threat Research Intelligence Group (JTRIG) specialises in the "4 D's": deny, disrupt, degrade, deceive. It has been branded by the press as the spy agency's "deception unit". Though its existence was secret until 2014, JTRIG has developed a distinctive profile in the public understanding, after documents from NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed that the unit had engaged in "dirty tricks" like deploying sexual "honey traps" designed to discredit targets, launching denial-of-service attacks to shut down Internet chat rooms, pushing veiled propaganda onto social networks and generally warping discourse online. Previous reporting on GCHQ established its focus on what it regards as political radicalism. Beyond JTRIG's targeting of Anonymous, other parts of GCHQ targeted political activists and groups deemed to be "radical", even monitoring human rights NGOs. Simon Davies, founder of the London-based Privacy International, asks: "If spying on human rights NGOs isn't off limits for GCHQ, then what is?"

Is Edward Snowden a Hero or Criminal? This is a solid documentary called #Citizenfour that may influence your thinking either way:



JOIN THE CONVERSATION #CITIZENFOUR

From My Picks:

8 May 2018: Threat to life: Updated complaint to the United Nations under Article 19 (freedom of expression) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Today we are cut off the internet for a half an hour


http://churchandstate.org.uk/honorary-associates/

Thursday, August 16, 2018

British Telecom: Tonight we are cut off the Internet for a record-breaking 1 1/4 hours. BT tell Declan that it will take them a minimum of 5 days to replace our hub (WITH UPDATE - DAY 4 19/8/2018)

Ridiculous.
-Don Collins, President of ISAF, an NGO dedicated to helping women



Sir Michael Rake
Chairman
British Telecom

Address removed for email


16 August 2018

Dear Sir Michael,

Tonight I was informed by BT Customer Service that it will take a minimum of five days to get a new hub to me.

I believe that a minimum of five days amounts to unfair treatment.

Yours sincerely,

Declan Heavey
Managing Director
Network for Church Monitoring

UPDATE 19/8/2018 (9.35am): No new hub (DAY 4).



Internet cuts since 13 August

277th 13 August: 11.32am (1/4 hour)
278th 13 August: 12.17pm
279th 13 August: 2.01pm (1/2 hour)
----------------------------------------------------
280th 14 August: 4.12pm
281st 14 August: 6.31pm (1/2 hour)
282nd 14 August: 10.01pm
----------------------------------------------------
Day 1
283rd 16 August: 9.17pm (1 1/4 hours)
New hub ordered
----------------------------------------------------
Day 2
284th 17 August: 10.46am (1/2 hour)
285th 17 August: 12.16pm (3 1/4 hours)
----------------------------------------------------
Day 3
286th 18 August: 2018 12.06am
----------------------------------------------------
Day 4
Still awaiting new hub

7 July: INTERNET CUTS: Are 45-minute Internet cuts to be the new norm? We pay British Telecom £850 per year for broadband (WITH UPDATE 17/8/2018 (11.36am): re 284th Internet cut since 26 May 2017)

Data the Greater London Authority-commissioned St Mungo's assured the court last year had been rectified is still being held by the charity under my name

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan.

Heavey v St Mungo's (2016)

St Mungo's Executive Director Dominic Williamson successfully had Declan's claim for £400 (in costs alone) dismissed by writing in a Witness Statement to the Central London County Court that St Mungo's were "keen to work with Mr Heavey to ensure that he remains securely housed and does not face homelessness again". (He also maintained and argued the point in two court hearings before two different District Court judges.) It took the scheduling of a preliminary hearing in October 2016 to have case notes from two meetings rectified by Williamson as Declan had requested all along; and that rectification only took place after a failed attempt by an international firm of solicitors, Osborne Clarke, to have Declan's claim struck out on the papers. The judge at the preliminary hearing dismissed St Mungo's application to strike out Declan's claim for compensation, and District Judge Avent's order dated 11 March 2017 does not state why he dismissed the claim.

20 February 2017: The Central London County Court: District Judge Avent dismisses Declan's claim against the Greater London Authority-commissioned St Mungo's that alleged the falsification and fabrication of data against us (WITH UPDATE 16/3/2017)

For the attention of the Information Commissioner's Office

Dominic Williamson
Executive Director
St Mungo's

Address removed for email


16 August 2018

Dear Mr Williamson,

This morning I telephoned the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) about data you assured the court last year had been rectified by you but is being currently held under my wife's name.

The ICO told me that, in light of the court proceedings and your acknowledgement of my phone message of 1 August, I could write to them today. Alternatively, it was suggested that, if I wanted to try and resolve this matter without the help of the ICO, I could write to you and give you two weeks to respond.

Please could you respond to this email before 30 August.

Yours sincerely,

Declan Heavey

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Dominic Williamson
Date: 4 August 2018 at 11:17
Subject: Your phone message of 1 August
To: Declan Heavey

Dear Mr Heavey,

I am on leave at the moment but briefly checked in and heard your message. I will look into the issue when I am back in the office on 14 August and will contact you as soon as I can after that.

Best wishes,

Dominic

Dominic Williamson
Executive director of strategy and policy
St Mungo’s

4 August: Our dispute with the Mayor of London's St Mungo's service over enforced joint visits rages on. St Mungo's CEO Howard Sinclair remains vague on the issue.

Monday, August 13, 2018

British Telecom: We're back to escalating Internet cuts; three cuts so far today. We pay £850 per year for BT Infinity 2 fibre optic broadband (WITH UPDATE 16/8/2018)

Our Church and State website has no less than 40 Nobel Prize winners on it; for details, see this blog's sidebar under "Church and State" (updated today).


UK Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ)



UPDATE 16/8/2018 (10.51am):
Internet cuts

277th 13 August 2018 11.32am (1/4 hour)
278th 13 August 2018 12.17pm
279th 13 August 2018 2.01pm (1/2 hour)
280th 14 August 2018 4.12pm
281st 14 August 2018 6.31pm (1/2 hour)
282nd 14 August 2018 10.01pm

15 August: no cuts
16 August: no cuts so far today (as at 10.51am)

7 July: INTERNET CUTS: Are 45-minute Internet cuts to be the new norm? We pay British Telecom £850 per year for broadband (WITH UPDATE 14/8/2018: re 282nd Internet cut since 26 May 2017)

Friday, August 10, 2018

Fighting for survival in London: Facebook's concerted campaign against our Church and State website shows no signs of waning (WITH UPDATE 21/9/2018: re Block 46 DAY 2)

This is precisely the hard hitting kind of response needed to clarify the unfair way Facebook is treating your highly reputable site.
-Don Collins, President of ISAF, an NGO dedicated to helping women

Our Church and State website has no less than 40 Nobel Prize winners on it; for details, see this blog's sidebar under "Church and State" (updated today).


Facebook does not have a political bias? Last March the social network blocked me from posting Church and State articles in groups four times (for 29 out of 31 days), and all without explanation. Tonight I received this notification of their 44th block against our Church and State website since 1 December 2015:



These notifications without an explanation come out of the blue. There's absolutely no way of knowing whether or not the rest of this month will be another wipeout from Facebook, and without an explanation being given.
Re: Facebook

Paragraph 40 of Declan's updated complaint to the United Nations under Article 19 (freedom of expression) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

40. The Applicant's wife has encountered numerous problems with Facebook. In August 2011, then Home Office Minister Lynne Featherstone wrote to Facebook on the Applicant's behalf, asking that they explain why she had been barred (see Annex 19, p. 47). The bar was subsequently lifted; however, since December 2015, Facebook has blocked her from posting to groups 37 times, and for up to 12 days at a time (see Annex 22, p. 50). In December 2015, Shadow Home Office Minister Lyn Brown made an enquiry on the Applicant's behalf to Facebook UK Managing Director Steve Hatch asking if he could offer an explanation as to the terms and conditions the Applicant's wife was alleged to have broken twice previously (see Annex 20, p. 48). To the best of the Applicant's knowledge, Mr. Hatch did not respond to this letter. The Applicant's wife only ever posts to groups that are specific to an article's subject and that she is well familiar with, and she only ever posts articles that she has already published on the Church and State website. This concerted campaign against the Church and State website escalated in November 2017 after the site topped more than 3 million hits over the previous eleven months [emphasis added]. In March 2018, the Applicant's wife was blocked from posting to groups four times (for 29 out of 31 days), and all without explanation. The following is taken from her complaint to Facebook dated 28 January 2018 (see Annex 21, p. 49):

"Seldom has Facebook made it clear why I am being blocked. Today's block records as the 30th time Facebook has blocked me from posting to groups since 1 December 2015. The only explanation given at the time of one of these blocks has been "spam" (received today); and Facebook has only responded to four of my previous 29 appeals, citing "technical problems" in each instance. Nonetheless, I have been blocked from posting to groups a total of 43 days (and counting) in the last three months alone."

https://issuu.com/lolaheavey/docs/un-complaint-may-2018






Facebook UK Managing Director Steve Hatch



UPDATE 21 September (9.27pm): When it comes to blocking me from posting Church and State articles in groups, Facebook's 44th block since 1 December 2015 was lifted on 17 August (8 days). I have, however, subsequently been blocked twice from doing the same (an additional 11 days), most recently yesterday until 27 September and, as usual, without an explanation.
Facebook blocks

2015
1st 1-4 December 2015 (4 days)
2nd 5-7 December 2015 (3 days)
---------------------------------------------------
2016
3rd 6-9 January 2016 (4 days)
4th 12-15 January 2016 (4 days)
5th 20-22 January 2016 (3 days)
6th 13-16 February 2016 (4 days)
7th 23-26 March 2016 (4 days)
8th 20-23 May 2016 (4 days)
9th 25-30 May 2016 (6 days)
10th 1-3 July 2016 (3 days)
11th 7-8 September 2016 (2 days)
12th 21-22 September 2016 (3 days)
13th 27-28 September 2016 (2 days)
14th 29 September - 3 October 2016 (5 days)
15th 4-5 October 2016 (2 days)
16th 18-23 October 2016 (6 days)
17th 9-14 December 2016 (6 days)
---------------------------------------------------
2017
18th 4-6 January 2017 (3 days)
19th 20-23 January 2017 (4 days)
20th 17 May 2017 (1 day)
21st 19 June 2017 (1 day)
22nd 19-21 August 2017 (3 days)
23rd 19 September 2017 (1 day)
24th 28 October - 8 November 2017 (12 days)
25th 23-30 November 2017 (8 days)
26th 7-8 December 2017 (2 days)
27th 10-17 December 2017 (8 days)
---------------------------------------------------
2018
28th 28 December 2017 - 4 January 2018 (8 days)
29th 16-23 January 2018 (8 days)
30th 28 January - 4 February 2018 (8 days)
31st 12-19 February 2018 (8 days)
32nd 26 February - 5 March 2018 (8 days)
33rd 7-14 March 2018 (8 days)
34th 16-23 March 2018 (8 days)
35th 24 March - 1 April 2018 (9 days)
36th 4-11 April 2018 (8 days)
37th 14-21 April 2018 (8 days)
38th 2-5 June 2018 (4 days)
39th 13-14 June 2018 (2 days)
40th 17-24 June 2018 (8 days)
41st 10-17 July 2018 (8 days)
42nd 21-28 July 2018 (8 days)
43rd 31 July - 3 August 2018 (4 days)
44th 10-17 August 2018 (8 days)
45th 4-6 September 2018 (3 days)
46th 20-27 September 2018 (8 days) (ongoing)

January 2018: 16 days
February 2018: 15 days
March 2018: 29 days
April 2018: 17 days
May 2018: No blocks in May
June 2018: 14 days
July 2018: 17 days
August 2018: 11 days
September 2018: 11 days (until 27 September)

And these are just some of the problems I experience with my Facebook Network for Church Monitoring page:

6 June 2018

Dear Facebook,

This afternoon I have been unable to post directly to my Page, schedule posts or view my scheduled posts. Please see the attached screenshot, which shows the removal of my facility to post directly to my Page and to view my scheduled posts.

I will not know until this evening whether or not my scheduled posts are posting.

Thank you in advance for your assistance in these matters.

Sincerely,
Lola Heavey
https://www.facebook.com/networkforchurchmonitoring/



Despite our distinguished list of 184 Honorary Associates from around the world, blocks on access to our Church and State website also continue unabated; see my blog post 27 June, SITE BLOCKS: The blocks on access to our Church and State website continue unabated (WITH UPDATE 21/9/2018: re 1,332nd block since 26 July 2016). Then there's the daily targeting to fluctuating degrees of category pages throughout the site. For example, as I point out in my recent blog post about Royal Mail misdelivering our mail, the second article below has more than 1/2 million Facebook likes/shares (not zero):



And it's not just Facebook blocks, blocks on access to our Church and State website, and the daily targeting to fluctuating degrees of category pages throughout the site. Since 26 May 2017, I have been recording Internet cuts to boot; see my blog post of 7 July, INTERNET CUTS: Are 45-minute Internet cuts to be the new norm? We pay British Telecom £850 per year for broadband (WITH UPDATE 21/9/2018: re 287th Internet cut since 26 May 2017). Perhaps of particular importance in all this is the fact that last November Church and State topped more than 3 million hits over the previous 11 months, and despite the even then far from level playing field.



From My Picks:

8 May 2018: Threat to life: Updated complaint to the United Nations under Article 19 (freedom of expression) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Today we are cut off the internet for a half an hour


http://churchandstate.org.uk/honorary-associates/

Thursday, August 09, 2018

British Telecom: Are drastically reduced internet speeds and 45-minute internet cuts to be the new norm?

Our Church and State website has no less than 40 Nobel Prize winners on it; for details, see this blog's sidebar under "Church and State" (updated today).

Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms formulates what is the core of free speech. "Everyone has the right to freedom of expression." In an important interpretation of this article, the European Court of Human Rights in Handyside v. UK (1976) indicated that this "freedom of expression" should be construed as follows. It "is applicable not only to 'information' or 'ideas' that are favourably received, or regarded as inoffensive, or as a matter of indifference, but also to those that offend, shock or disturb the State or any sector of the population." Such are the demands of that pluralism, tolerance and broadmindedness without which there is no "democratic society" (see Cliteur, 2010).

British Telecom is one of the world's leading communications services companies. Declan pays BT £70 per month (£850 per year) for Superfast Fibre 2 Unlimited broadband (average speed 67Mb). Last month we wondered if 45-minute internet cuts were to be the new norm; see my blog post of 7 July, INTERNET CUTS: Are 45-minute Internet cuts to be the new norm? We pay British Telecom £850 per year for broadband (WITH UPDATE 9/8/2018: re 272nd Internet cut since 26 May 2017). That's still an open question (we've just been cut off the internet for 33 minutes), but now so too are our internet speeds. We're well used to particular laptops being targeted with little or no internet speed, usually Declan's no. 1 laptop; see my blog post of 3 December 2017, As an assault on individual privacy, we compare the on-off targeting of Declan's relatively new £600 laptop with the removal of our flat door in 2012 (WITH UPDATE 8/12/2017). Today this is more or less the internet speed we have been getting across four laptops:



We usually have an internet speed of about 70Mb.


British Telecom in bold

Paragraph 41 of Declan's updated complaint to the United Nations under Article 19 (freedom of expression) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

41. In October 2017, SiteGround's solicitors told the Applicant to remove a popular article from the Church and State website for alleged copyright infringement or the site would be disabled by SiteGround pending his legal challenge by counter notice. The Applicant removed the article even though it had a Creative Commons licence applied to it, as do all Addicting Info articles. The Applicant's wife's Church and State blog has been attacked in various ways over the years: links have been broken and images exchanged, deleted or temporarily removed. So too have the Applicant and his wife's computers. In December 2015, the Applicant's wife's laptop was rendered incapable of publishing material on the Church and State website. She could not create a WordPress post, add images, or click on most of the platform's buttons. She had posted a video of the attack on her blog before the laptop was returned to normal functioning the following afternoon. Since September 2017, the internet connection speed on any one of their four laptops has been reduced from anything between 70-74Mbps to 0Mbps, usually disabling the targeted laptop, and for up to three weeks to date. The laptop most targeted for this form of attack is the Applicant's main laptop that cost him £600 in January 2017. Their internet connection has been cut 184 times since 26 May 2017, most recently today on 8 May 2018 for a half an hour (the third cut of this duration). The Applicant pays British Telecom £850 per year for broadband. He has documented communication with BT Executive Level Complaints showing there has been no problem with his phone line. (Emphasis added.)



Is Edward Snowden a Hero or Criminal? This is a solid documentary called #Citizenfour that may influence your thinking either way:



JOIN THE CONVERSATION #CITIZENFOUR

From My Picks:

6 August (previous blog post): DAY 67 UKA DBS check: Declan has to raise an Escalation with the Metropolitan Police if he wants to keep volunteering with young people with disabilities (WITH UPDATE - DAY 68 7/8/2018)


http://churchandstate.org.uk/honorary-associates/

Monday, August 06, 2018

DAY 67 UKA DBS check: Declan has to raise an Escalation with the Metropolitan Police if he wants to keep volunteering with children and adults with learning disabilities (WITH UPDATE - DAY 68 7/8/2018)

What a breakthrough! [A Case for Neural Augmentation]
Your site is becoming so powerful!
Congratulations
-Don Collins, President of ISAF, an NGO dedicated to helping women

Our Church and State website has no less than 40 Nobel Prize winners on it; for details, see this blog's sidebar under "Church and State" (updated today).
Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms formulates what is the core of free speech. "Everyone has the right to freedom of expression." In an important interpretation of this article, the European Court of Human Rights in Handyside v. UK (1976) indicated that this "freedom of expression" should be construed as follows. It "is applicable not only to 'information' or 'ideas' that are favourably received, or regarded as inoffensive, or as a matter of indifference, but also to those that offend, shock or disturb the State or any sector of the population." Such are the demands of that pluralism, tolerance and broadmindedness without which there is no "democratic society" (see Cliteur, 2010).


Declan is a former physical education teacher, who has taught in one of Ireland's top schools (Glenstal Abbey). Last June he qualified as an assistant coach with UK Athletics. He is currently volunteering twice a week with children and adults with learning disabilities. This morning he tried raising an Escalation regarding his UK Athletics Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check. Right off the bat, he had to make a formal complaint to DBS Complaints because he didn't receive the activation code on a new online account that would allow him to track a complaint. He has subsequently written to DBS Customer Services and has asked them for confirmation that an escalation has today been sent to the police force.

1 June 2016

Declan

Your Verification form and payment has been processed; your application has been sent to the DBS for checking.

Please note that the DBS checking process can take 21 days and more in some circumstances.

UKA have no control over how long the DBS checking process takes; confirmation and clearance must be obtained from various agencies and organisations as part of the Enhanced DBS process.

Regards,

Steve Gordon
Welfare Administrator
UK Athletics

DAY 68 UPDATE 7 August (9.28am): Nothing from the DBS except the activation code, which Declan received yesterday afternoon. DBS say that if the police force doesn't respond to their escalation on or before 15 August (within 10 days), they will tell Declan which police force it is with. Then it is up to Declan to directly chase up the original application made by UK Athletics himself until it is complete. Great!

6 August 2018

Dear DBS,

This morning I telephoned DBS. I was assured that an Escalation would be raised with the police force today.

Please can you confirm that an escalation has been sent to the police force.

Yours sincerely,

Declan Heavey

This morning I updated my blog post of 27 June, SITE BLOCKS: The blocks on access to our Church and State website continue unabated (WITH UPDATE 7/8/2018: re 1,287th block since 26 July 2016). The blog post also reveals the daily targeting to fluctuating degrees of category pages throughout Church and State which continues to this day. For example, the second article below has over 1/2 million Facebook likes/shares (not zero):




Re: Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ)

Paragraph 12 of Declan's updated complaint to the United Nations under Article 19 (freedom of expression) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

12. It is important to underscore that the discriminatory surveillance suffered by the Applicant and his wife is not an isolated event. Rather, it is emblematic of a larger pattern of surveillance by law enforcement officials in the UK that has been well-documented by international and domestic human rights bodies. For example, GCHQ's Joint Threat Research Intelligence Group (JTRIG) specialises in the "4 D's": deny, disrupt, degrade, deceive. It has been branded by the press as the spy agency's "deception unit". Though its existence was secret until 2014, JTRIG has developed a distinctive profile in the public understanding, after documents from NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed that the unit had engaged in "dirty tricks" like deploying sexual "honey traps" designed to discredit targets, launching denial-of-service attacks to shut down Internet chat rooms, pushing veiled propaganda onto social networks and generally warping discourse online. Previous reporting on GCHQ established its focus on what it regards as political radicalism. Beyond JTRIG's targeting of Anonymous, other parts of GCHQ targeted political activists and groups deemed to be "radical", even monitoring human rights NGOs. Simon Davies, founder of the London-based Privacy International, asks: "If spying on human rights NGOs isn't off limits for GCHQ, then what is?"

Is Edward Snowden a Hero or Criminal? This is a solid documentary called #Citizenfour that may influence your thinking either way:



JOIN THE CONVERSATION #CITIZENFOUR

From My Picks:

8 May 2018: Threat to life: Updated complaint to the United Nations under Article 19 (freedom of expression) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Today we are cut off the internet for a half an hour


http://churchandstate.org.uk/honorary-associates/

Saturday, August 04, 2018

Our dispute with the Mayor of London's St Mungo's service over enforced joint visits rages on. St Mungo's CEO Howard Sinclair remains vague on the issue.

Our Church and State website has no less than 40 Nobel Prize winners on it; for details, see this blog's sidebar under "Church and State" (updated today).



The Central London County Court is located in the Royal Courts of Justice.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan.

Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms formulates what is the core of free speech. "Everyone has the right to freedom of expression." In an important interpretation of this article, the European Court of Human Rights in Handyside v. UK (1976) indicated that this "freedom of expression" should be construed as follows. It "is applicable not only to 'information' or 'ideas' that are favourably received, or regarded as inoffensive, or as a matter of indifference, but also to those that offend, shock or disturb the State or any sector of the population." Such are the demands of that pluralism, tolerance and broadmindedness without which there is no "democratic society" (see Cliteur, 2010).
Heavey v St Mungo's (2016)

St Mungo's Executive Director Dominic Williamson successfully had Declan's claim for £400 (in costs alone) dismissed by writing in a Witness Statement to the Central London County Court that St Mungo's were "keen to work with Mr Heavey to ensure that he remains securely housed and does not face homelessness again". (He also maintained and argued the point in two court hearings before two different District Court judges.) It took the scheduling of a preliminary hearing in October 2016 to have case notes from two meetings rectified by Williamson as Declan had requested all along; and that rectification only took place after a failed attempt by an international firm of solicitors, Osborne Clarke, to have Declan's claim struck out on the papers. The judge at the preliminary hearing dismissed St Mungo's application to strike out Declan's claim for compensation, and District Judge Avent's order dated 11 March 2017 does not state why he dismissed the claim.

20 February 2017: The Central London County Court: District Judge Avent dismisses Declan's claim against the Greater London Authority-commissioned St Mungo's that alleged the falsification and fabrication of data against us (WITH UPDATE 16/3/2017)

Declan and I are tenants of the Clearing House, which is run by St Mungo's on behalf of the Mayor of London; see my blog post of 14 July, DAY 59 living in limbo (threat to life): Declan has worked inaccurate personal data into his claim against the Greater London Authority-commissioned St Mungo's for filing in the Central London County Court (WITH UPDATE 3/8/2018). Declan's claim against St Mungo's in pursuance of Article 8 (protection of family life and home) and Article 14 (prohibition of discrimination) of the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA) remains active, albeit in a different form. For over two months we have been battling this charity to stabilise our tenancy. First it was problems with the renewal of our tenancy, which took 62 days and the threat of immediate court action to resolve. For over a month it has been problems with inaccurate personal data that got even more serious this week - St Mungo's Executive Director Dominic Williamson is knowingly (since Declan voicemailed him on 1 August) holding against me data he assured the court last year had been rectified by him as someone with "senior responsibility in St Mungo's for information security and governance". And for over a week it has been enforced joint visits (see here). In the continued absence of a reply from Williamson on this issue, Declan will write a second pre-action letter to St Mungo's CEO Howard Sinclair under the same two articles of the HRA.

25 July 2018

Dear Mr Heavey,

Thank you for your email and your related phone message.

I am arranging to talk to the relevant staff in the TST [Tenancy Sustainmant Team] to see how we can resolve the issue and give you the clarity you are seeking.

I will come back to you as soon as I can.

Best wishes,

Dominic Williamson
Executive Director
St Mungo’s

cc Howard Sinclair, CEO, St Mungo's

Last May St Mungo's made the international press for all the wrong reasons. They are accused of helping to get rough sleepers arrested and deported. When the story came through my Russia Today (RT) news feed on 14 May, it left Declan gob smacked. He has spoken with Diane Taylor, the journalist who is covering the story for the Guardian. This is her update article on the scandal:


***

We were evicted from our previous flat in March 2013 because according to our then live-in landlady's ex-husband, Dr Nigel McKenzie, a consultant psychiatrist in Highgate Mental Health Centre, our flat was needed for somebody with a mental illness. As Declan states in paragraph 8 of his recent updated complaint to the United Nations, former MI5 whistleblower David Shayler also lived with human rights activist Belinda McKenzie in the same political 'safe house' for a couple of years until 2007. According to BBC Panorama, Shayler "caused the biggest crisis of official secrecy since the spy catcher affair"; he was jailed for seven weeks in 2002 for breaking the Official Secrets Act. It's unfortunate that Shayler declared himself the Messiah in 2007, became a squatter, and was subsequently ridiculed in the press for changing his name to Delores Kane. A New Statesman article published in September 2006 featuring Shayler and Belinda gives no indication that Shayler believed he was the Messiah at that time; whilst a Daily Mail interview with him the following year reveals he believed himself to be Jesus by June 2007. He has never regained his normal self.
The Esquire article below* is mentioned in a Guardian article dated 27 March 2012. It's an eye-opener, highlighting the monitoring and surveillance that Shayler had to live with back in 2000, and the contradictory briefings and slanders that were coming out of the British establishment and the media. The author, Dr Eamonn O'Neill, is a lecturer in journalism at Strathclyde University.

*On 2 May 2013, Issuu removed this pdf from my Issuu account following a copyright complaint by Hearst Communications. I had uploaded the article to my Issuu account in December 2012. In March 2013, when last I checked, the article had been viewed more than 15,000 times. It can be read here.

BBC PANORAMA: The David Shayler Affair (August 1998)

Former MI5 whistleblower David Shayler "caused the biggest crisis of official secrecy since the spy catcher affair", according to BBC Panorama. He was jailed for seven weeks in 2002 for breaking the Official Secrets Act.