Endgame

Last night in the porch we sleep in at night, we were treated to one of the most prolonged sleep deprivations yet – its pinnacle being some guy that decided to lie down on the top end of my sleeping bag at 4.00am, fifty minutes before we get up.

We knew something was up when we found over a dozen large bags of rubbish and a broken office chair inside the porch (last Friday it was eight bags of rubbish – a first) which Declan had to move to the pavement for collection. When at 9.30pm the bin lorry collected the rubbish from across the street – and ignored ours – I was totally resigned to the fact that the contents of one of the bags might end up on top of me during the night (last Saturday an open rubbish bag was left beside my head while I was asleep).

Luckily, at about 10.00pm the bin men came back and collected all the rubbish – leaving of course the broken chair, which Declan, always prudent, brought back into the porch. Then it was the usual procession of people (of late) going in and coming out of the office building through the porch door between 10.30pm and 11.15pm. (Declan now sleeps wearing runners inside his sleeping bag because on Tuesday night, well, somebody coming out of the building at 11.00pm narrowly missed stamping on his feet.)

Things got more bizarre at 4.00am when some guy decided to have a nap in the porch – without the slightest concern that he was going down on his back on top of the end of my sleeping bag and with his legs stretched out on the sidewalk. A few minutes later he is touched by a policeman: he doesn’t tell him the obvious, which is that it may be a bit unsafe for him to be sleeping in a porch which is already occupied by two rough sleepers, but informs him that he is “totally entitled” to remain where he is. When did this feisty character leave? At 4.40am, when two friends came around – one of them walked across our ground sheet while the other took some memento photos of his sleepy friend with his mobile phone.

Declan’s selling of The Big Issue on his pitch in Liverpool Street is becoming increasingly more difficult: on Thursday he actually had to walk off the pitch again, this time after a distributor of City AM (a free London daily business paper) moved from where she was handing papers to passers-by into Declan’s pitch. After Declan told the girl that two people can’t work the pitch at the same time, she just said “ok” and continued passing papers in front of him – meaning: you leave. (In the evenings, the distributor of London Lite has been permanently encroached on Declan’s pitch to his own detriment – I should add – because by moving in on Declan’s pitch, he has been missing most people coming out of the train station and many going into it, approximately 30% of his business.)

So because we are trying to avoid becoming (illegal) beggars, Declan sent that very same morning another email to the Big Issue outreach manager Paul Joseph, which he also sent by registered post to the founder of the magazine, Dr John Bird. It reads:

Subject: City AM

Dear Paul

I refer to the telephone message I left for you this morning, wherein I graphically describe the unprecedented takeover of my McDonalds pitch on Liverpool Street (pitch no. 1408) by the above free daily business newspaper.

Having had to walk off the pitch to abide by the rule that a vendor shall not "argue or fight over pitches with … street traders", please advise how you can help me to maximise sales on this pitch, which I have had protected by pitch authorisation slip and pitch listings since the beginning of December 2006.

Yours sincerely
Declan Heavey
Badge no. 1163

cc Dr John Bird, Editor-In-Chief, The Big Issue (by registered post)

Things are so hot now that as well as washing in the street and in toilets – Declan and I were barred from the Methodist-run Whitechapel Mission on 18 June by the wife of the minister due to concerns about our safety after I was assaulted there that morning by a homeless woman – we are also doing our laundry in the launderette. We used to arrive every Monday at 7.00am at the gates of the Sisters of Mercy-run Dellow Centre so that when they would open at 9.15am we would be the first in the queue and therefore get a washing machine. Well, last Monday when we arrived at 6.55am there were already homeless queuing, which meant in all probability that we wouldn’t get a washing machine … so we kept walking.

Speaking of the Dellow Centre, last Friday I had to wash in one of their toilet cubicles with a wet towel and some shower gel after a homeless woman (the same homeless that two Thursdays ago stepped into the shower just seconds before I was going to step in myself) stormed past me into the women’s washroom as I was taking a couple of towels from the laundry room – it looked as well as if she had been waiting for me despite that this time I purposefully arrived at the place twenty-five minutes later than usual (they close at 11.30am and don't open during the weekend).

In an article in this week’s New Statesman titled “Am I a dwarf or a horseman?” Christopher Hitchens says that “he [Tony Blair] has been important to all of us who believe that peaceful coexistence with totalitarian and aggressive regimes (and ideologies) is neither possible nor desirable. It is this point of principle that ought to eclipse all others.”

Alas, he has also been important to the Christian church in Britain. Commenting on the departure of Blair – widely regarded as one of the most religious Prime Ministers since Gladstone – Keith Porteous Wood of the National Secular Society said: “Tony Blair has done more to undermine the secular nature of British society than anyone in recent history.” For example, in 2003 he set up the Faith Communities Liaison Group to encourage partnership between government and religious communities – thus undermining the entrenched secularism of modern British politics, as religious communities have been encouraged to play an increasingly active role in civic and political life.

Wood goes on: “By consulting religious leaders about policy-making he has emboldened them. They now regularly use their new-found power to seek to thwart socially progressive legislation and make self-serving demands, including for the suppression of freedom of expression and the restriction of the human rights of others.” I would like to add here that Declan and I being homeless in the street is just a perfect example of the influence of religion on government.

So I found rather amusing Tony Blair's audience with Pope Benedict XVI on 23 June and the speculation that the former British leader will convert to Catholicism – Blair's wife Cherie is a Catholic, the couple's children have attended Catholic schools, and Blair habitually attends Catholic rather than Anglican services. The Act of Settlement of 1700 requires the monarch to be a member of the Church of England and to not marry a Catholic. However although it has been possible for a Catholic to head the government since 1829, when the Catholic Emancipation Act allowed members of the faith to be elected to Parliament, Britain has not had a Catholic prime minister.

Tony Blair – a Catholic? Well, I never.

Church dogma? No thank you

After being barred by the manager of the Methodist-run Whitechapel Mission (she is the wife of the director Minister Tony Miller) due to, er, concerns about our safety, we are now washing in the streets and in toilets.

I am concerned that the same trick can be pulled elsewhere – why not have me also assaulted (again) in the porch we sleep in at night so the police can move us out due to the same concerns? – so I am staying out of the Sisters of Mercy-run Dellow Centre as much as possible.

I might as well, because when I went in last Thursday a homeless woman stepped into the shower just seconds before I was going to step in myself (the showers of the local Salvation Army women’s hostel, where she is a resident, must have been out of order). So, there: I can’t even shower now. Oh well.

Meanwhile, Declan has been assured by The Big Issue head coordinator at Liverpool Street that there is no chance I will be removed from my pitch out of a similar concern, even if I am assaulted by a homeless on it – such a dumb excuse you could only expect from a faith-based initiative organisation!

Anyway, the ramifications of this barring are starting to be felt in other areas. Take the porch we sleep in at night. Three nights ago, the cleaner blew the porch alarm – we were sleeping – on her way out of the office building. Two nights ago, she left eight large bags of rubbish inside the porch, which dripped of milk and other liquids when Declan moved them to the pavement for collection. And yesterday morning … well, I found an open large bag half full of rubbish beside my head when we woke to get up at 4.50am.

What is the purpose of all this intimidation? Short term, of course, it is to stop Declan’s application to the European Court of Human Rights – he already has a file number, having lodged his case against the UK by introductory letter of 18 May.

However, the ultimate purpose is to neutralise NAC: it is somehow considered a threat – we are rather pleased about that. This is why I think NAC is feared: (1) NAC is about teaming up with anti-dogma activists to form a broader opposition movement; (2) NAC aims to facilitate activists and groups in one part of the world to make common cause with those in other parts, and (3) NAC is dedicated to supporting these activists and promoting their views through photography, videos, podcasts, etc – open source is booming out at such a fantastic speed you only have to look at the Greenpeace website to see the enormous possibilities.

The right that the hierarchy of the Christian church – in their arrogance – believe they have to impose their repressive doctrinal values on the rest of society, even on those who like us are not (any more) religious, is really what NAC wants to tackle and I think – the police are doing a very good job at letting us know – that we could have great impact.

What about when activists in Africa or Asia can be given digital cameras, videos and laptops by NAC members that they can use to easily post their work and efforts – for example, to re-open a family planning clinic that the local priest has succeeded in closing – to the NAC website? It is a total winner.

Last Tuesday, the Hay festival brought Christopher Hitchens to London to talk to novelist Ian McEwan about his new book, God Is Not Great. We would have given anything to be able to attend but of course, given our present circumstances, that was pie in the sky (I don’t even have the money to buy his book). I particularly love that he is so aggressive and fierce in his slaying of religion – such a talented journalist.

Would love to hear Richard Dawkins of course – who wouldn’t?

Assault and bar in the Whitechapel Mission

This morning at 6.50am I was assaulted in the canteen of the Methodist-run Whitechapel Mission by a homeless woman … then at 9.30am the manager (she is the wife of the Director, Minister Tony Miller) informs Declan and me, in front of two police officers, that we are barred from the premises due to concerns about our safety.

We actually should have known something was up because last night at 10.30pm, while we were sleeping in the porch, two employees entered the office building by the porch (very unusual) and this morning one did the same at 5.05am, 15 minutes before we get up (a first).

Anyway, this homeless woman threw a full roll of industrial kitchen paper at me, one end of the cardboard tube hitting me above the eye. She had already, while I was waiting for Declan to come back from the washroom, pushed me against the wall, thrown a cup of coffee at my feet, called Declan and me all kinds of unmentionables and put her fist to my face and told me she was going to kill me. (A reason? Can’t think of one: I have never talked to her before!)

All of this happened just a few feet away from the kitchen counter, but did any of the kitchen staff take notice of this homeless woman’s shouts and anti-social behaviour? Apparently not. And this homeless was obviously emboldened by the carte blanche too, because the pushing against the wall and the throwing of the industrial roll happened right in front of a kitchen worker who had come out to mop up the coffee at my feet.

When we called into Bethnal Green Police Station, we were told to go back to the Mission and wait for police officers to turn up – which we duly did. After we gave a second account of the assault and a description of this particular homeless woman to two police officers in the manager's office, in came the manager to tell us that due to concerns about our safety she was barring us from the premises.

There was no changing her mind, not when Declan reminded her that there is no other place for us wash and change our clothes before 9.30am (we sell The Big Issue in Liverpool Street most weekdays from 7.30am to 9.00am), nor when he pointed out that the European Court of Human Rights has the Whitechapel Mission as our care of address.

I can see the writing on the wall: unless I bring Declan’s application to the European Court of Human Rights to a finish over the next few days (our introductory letter can be found here), more incidents like this are likely to occur. It raises the question, the Department for Work and Pensions can act as unlawfully as it pleases, but can we exercise our right to submit our case to the European Court?

Declan is not letting the barring go (he is now seeking re-admittance), and will write to Andrew Hind, CEO of the Charity Commission. This afternoon he sent this registered letter to Minister Miller:

Dear Minister Miller

Re:   CCTV footage (Crime ref: 4204886/07), bar and care of address

In reference to the assault on me in the canteen of the Whitechapel Mission on 17 February 2007 (Crime ref: 4204886/07), I hereby request your confirmation or otherwise that there is CCTV footage of the incident for a prosecution/conviction.

I enclose copy of letter of today’s date from the Dellow Centre confirming that I can use the Centre as a care of address, which was formally the Whitechapel Mission.

I also enclose copy of my letter and enclosures of 12 June 2007 to the head of the Methodist church in the UK, Rev Graham Carter, regarding harassment and intimidation in the Whitechapel Mission.

I can confirm that this morning my wife was assaulted in the canteen of the Whitechapel Mission and, with two police officers from Bethnal Green Police Station present, my wife and I were barred by your wife, Mrs Sue Miller, Whitechapel Mission Day Centre Manager.

I note that you run a website called “Whitechapel Mission” (http://www.whitechapel.org.uk) and that off the homepage the “Latest Annual Review available” states the following:

Whitechapel is all about a promise – we promise that whatever mess your life maybe in, whomever else may have let you down, at 6am tomorrow morning our doors will open and you will receive a warm welcome. We will not bar you or exclude you. If your behaviour is not acceptable you will be asked to leave, but will be welcome back the next day.

I understand from Mrs Miller that my wife and I have been barred indefinitely from the Whitechapel Mission for our own safety because this morning I “grassed on a client” of the Mission, in what was described by PC Mussell (193 HT) as a “common assault and section 5 [of the Public Order Act 1986] public order offence”.

Yours sincerely

Declan Heavey

Encs

cc  Jerry Savill, Chief Superintendent, Bethnal Green Police Station
      Rev Graham Carter, President of the Methodist Conference
      Andrew Hind, CEO, Charity Commission

The porch we sleep in is being targeted

A few days ago Declan received a letter from the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg confirming that his case file has been opened, and requesting his application within six months from 1 June. Since he received the letter, the harrying and harassment have mounted quite alarmingly.

The porch we sleep in has been particularly targeted. For the last few days the floor has been covered with all kind of things: ice cream, coffee, a sticky black liquid, etc. Declan thinks it is because one of these nights either a cleaner is going to tell us to go away because the mess has to be mopped up (last night at 11.30pm a guy entered the office building by the porch, blowing the porch alarm on his way out a few minutes later) or we are going to be told the mess has been done by us and we need to move out for good. So, this morning we bought some products of our own to do the cleaning.

We were interested to learn that the new coroner for the inquest into the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, is Lord Justice Scott Baker – Declan’s application to the Court of Appeal for leave to appeal was rejected by Lord/Lady Justice Scott Baker on the papers on 22 March 2007, and an order made that he may not request the decision to reconsidered at a hearing. Yesterday the Daily Express ran a headline on its front page which read: “New coroner wants to keep evidence secret.” A safe pair of hands.

Meanwhile the Vatican’s residents have found something new to obstruct. Cardinal Renato Martino, a Vatican cardinal, has said Catholics should stop donating money to Amnesty International because it said in April that women should have access to abortion services in cases of rape, incest or when pregnancy is a risk to the mother. Who’s next – Greenpeace?

CCTV footage required for a prosecution/conviction

This morning Declan wrote to the head of the Methodist church of the UK, Rev Graham Carter, given his ongoing difficulties in having the homeless guy that assaulted him in the canteen of the Methodist-run Whitechapel Mission on 17 February prosecuted. This is his letter:

Dear Rev Carter

Re:  Harassment and intimidation in the Whitechapel Mission

Further to my letter and enclosures to you of 19 May, please find enclosed copy of my cover letter of 8 June to Chief Superintendent Jerry Savill of Bethnal Green Police Station regarding my request under the Data Protection Act 1998 for a copy of the statement that was written by Detective Constable Alexander Head on my behalf in Bethnal Green Police Station on 27 April in relation to the assault on me in the canteen of the Whitechapel Mission on 17 February.

I can confirm that in the absence of an update, this letter to CS Savill will be forwarded with its enclosures to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg as part of my application against the UK establishing violation, inter alia, of Article 3 (the prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment) of the European Convention on Human Rights.

On 9 May, I met with DC Head in Bethnal Green Police Station for a crime report update in respect of the assault on me on 17 February. As stated in my letter to you of 10 May, DC Head advised that he had spoken with the Director of the Whitechapel Mission, Minister Tony Miller, who confirmed that he was aware of what took place and the name of the suspect. On 10 May, as stated in my letter to you of 11 May, DC Head left a voice message for me (see transcript attached), wherein he states:

... I’ve spoken to Sue and Tony. They have stated to me they have spoken to all their staff members. None of them can remember an incident involving yourself taking place. Whether that is the case – whether they just do not want to come forward and speak to police, that probably sounds like the more reason behind itself.

I reconfirm that in light of the fact that no longer can any of the staff of the Whitechapel Mission remember an incident involving me taking place, CCTV footage of the assault on me in the canteen of the premises on 17 February is required for a prosecution/conviction.

As first stated in my letter to you of 5 May, Minister Miller advised me on 1 May that in a matter of days I would be in receipt of a letter from the management of the Whitechapel Mission in response to my allegations of harassment and intimidation in their premises. Please note that I am in receipt of no such letter to date.

Yours sincerely

Declan Heavey

And this is the letter to the CS Savill of 8 June:

Dear CS Savill

Re:  Request for information (Crime ref: 4204886/07)

I refer further to the enclosed copy of MPS (Metropolitan Police Service) Refusal Notice of 15 May 2007 in respect of my request to you of 5 May 2007 under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 for the following information:

Copy of the statement that was written by Detective Constable Alexander Head on my behalf in Bethnal Green Police Station on 27 April 2007 in relation to the assault on me in the Whitechapel Mission on 17 February 2007.

I also re-enclose copy of my Subject Access Request form (3019a) of 21 May 2007 under the Data Protection Act 1998, which I forwarded to you on 21 May 2007 with postal order for £10 and proof of identity, as requested. Please note that this Subject Access Request includes the following attachments:

(i) chronology from 19 February 2007 to 27 April 2007 in respect of my efforts to have my statement taken;

(ii) copy of the statement I handed to DC Head on 27 April 2007, some of which he transcribed verbatim;

(iii) copy of my letter and enclosures of 19 May 2007 to the head of the Methodist church in the UK, Rev Graham Carter regarding harassment and intimidation in the Whitechapel Mission.

I note from the aforementioned Refusal Notice of 15 May 2007 that it may take up to 40 days from receipt of my completed application of 21 May 2007 to process my request.

Yours sincerely

Declan Heavey

I am still working quite hard on Declan’s application to the European Court of Human Rights – following the lodgement of his case to the Court on 18 May by introductory letter – and not surprisingly there are plenty of highlights of the week. Here are some: Declan is handed two burnt toasts with his breakfast of cereal and coffee, and then told they can’t be replaced because he has just handled them (Thursday at 9.45am in the Sisters of Mercy-run Dellow Centre); my Big Issue pitch by Liverpool Street Station is taken out by a distributor for an escort service (Thursday from 12.30pm to 2.00pm at the George Pub); Declan has to speak with the deputy manager for a 60p refund on six lost prints (Saturday at 4.00pm in the Idea Store Whitechapel library); a homeless spills a full cup of milk over my (new) jeans, (new) bag and jumper without apology (this morning at 6.05am in the Whitechapel Mission).

The serious difficulties with Declan’s Big Issue pitch by Liverpool Street Station (at McDonalds) are far from resolved but he is waiting for The London Paper to involve themselves again before bringing the matter to the attention of the chair of the Board of Trustees of The Big Issue, and then the Charity Commission.

Declan’s Big Issue pitch taken over by two free papers

Just when we thought the saga of the chipping away by the London Lite and The London Paper at Declan’s pitch on Liverpool Street – where he sells The Big Issue on weekdays – could get no worse, it has plumbed new depths of farce.

Not content with encroaching on the pitch (see previous blog), both free papers last night took over the pitch: the London Lite girl regularly passing papers in front of Declan and The London Paper guy almost by his side, blocking him out.

So because we are trying to avoid begging in the street (it’s illegal and can land you in a police station), Declan sent another email yesterday evening to the Big Issue outreach manager Paul Joseph, which he has also sent by registered post this morning to the founder of the magazine, Dr John Bird. It reads:

Subject: London Lite and The London Paper

Dear Paul

I refer to the telephone message I left for you this evening, wherein I graphically describe the unprecedented takeover of my McDonalds pitch on Liverpool Street (pitch no. 1408) by the above two free papers.

Having had to walk off the pitch to abide by the rule that a vendor shall not "argue or fight over pitches with … street traders", please advise how you can help me to maximise sales on this pitch, which I have had protected by pitch authorisation slip and pitch listings since the beginning of December 2006.

Yours sincerely
Declan Heavey
Badge no. 1163

cc Dr John Bird, Editor-In-Chief, The Big Issue (by registered post)

As a final note, there must be some malfunction with my Idea Store Whitechapel library card because this afternoon I was unable to log on a computer due to there being a problem with my password or membership number. (A few days back, while working on a computer in the same library, I was logged out and when the screen appeared again my allocated hour had been given to somebody else.) Declan has emailed the manager of the library because we wouldn’t want this malfunction to happen again, especially since we frequently have to wait for over an hour for a computer.