We are cut off from the internet

In the previous blog “Problems with internet access”, I reported that on Sunday I couldn’t connect with either my laptop or Declan’s notebook to the access point which our live-in landlady Belinda McKenzie gave me back in July to access her broadband network – see an article in the New Statesman stating that Belinda’s house “doubles as the hub of the British and Irish 9/11 Truth Campaign” here.

It turns out that Belinda's two other access points (McKenzie-1 and moj) are working fine, and Belinda concurs that only forces from outside the house could have disconnected ours (Guest). Moreover, our bandwidths continue to be squeezed almost to death in public libraries, whether we are on a library computer, my laptop or Declan's notebook (see, for example, blog of 26 October “Internet access at the British Library”). It seems little consolation that only two weeks ago Google finally removed the “Attack Site” warnings that on 13 November they posted on every single page of the NAC website (see blog of 2 December “NAC website is back”).

On Thursday we have our sixth interview in six weeks at our local Highgate Jobcentre Plus – the jobcentre notified us on 5 November that Declan and I had been selected to be interviewed on six consecutive Thursdays about the jobs we are applying for. Every week it is something. Two weeks ago, the jobcentre actually insisted that Declan apply for two jobs that they selected for him, neither of which he would have entertained the thought of applying for (see blog of 2 December “NAC website is back”). Last week the interviewer wanted to know the names of the employers we were going to contact the following week! This request is quite amazing because it defies the logic of the jobcentre's policy that “each time you attend, we will talk with you about what you have been doing to find work” (emphasis added).



We have some history with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), of which this jobcentre is a part: We came to England in 2003 and for two years attempted to get NAC up and running; we went on benefits in July 2005; the DWP terminated Declan's joint claim for Jobseeker's Allowance on 27 September 2006 because he did not “sign on” two days before he was due to do so on 29 September. Declan exhausted the appeals process from the street, having been denied the internal appeal process by procedural impropriety on the part of the enforcement authority (the DWP). His case was dismissed by the High Court (Judicial Review), Court of Appeal and European Court of Human Rights (see blog of 21 October 2008 “European Court of Human Rights declares application inadmissible”).

Goodness knows what this Thursday will throw up! Perhaps the forces that have cut us off from the internet are connected to those forces that put us to the street for more than 2 1/2 years (from 3 November 2006 to 13 July 2009)!

Declan barred from the IT centre at The (Church of England) Connection

Last Friday Declan was barred from accessing the IT centre at The Connection at St. Martin-in-the-Fields (“St.Martin's”), which he had been using almost every day since the beginning of August to print copies of our CVs and requests for application forms and fight for the reinstatement of his joint claim for Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA). The Connection is a Church of England homeless centre situated at St. Martin-in-the-Fields – one of the most famous non-cathedral churches in London. According to Wikipedia, St. Martin-in-the-Fields is “famous for its work with homeless people through The Connection at St Martin's which shares with The Vicar's Relief Fund the money raised each year by the BBC Radio 4 Appeal's Christmas appeal”.

On 28 April 2008, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, spoke at a special Service of Thanksgiving to celebrate the renewal of the church: in January 2006, work began on a £36 million renewal project; the Church of England got the money through public appeals and a grant of £15.35 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund. Anyway, you can read the Archbishop’s sermon on his website, but what interests us in particular is one of the notes which appears at the bottom of the sermon:

More specifically, among the many aspects of Christian ministry at St Martin's, there is a long tradition of caring for homeless people and those at risk of homelessness. This work continues with the Connection at St Martin-in-the-Fields, formed in April 2003 from a merger between St Martin-in-the-Fields Social Care Unit (working with rough sleepers and other vulnerable homeless people) and the London Connection (which helped young homeless people).

Furthermore, the Connection website also explains that in its IT Centre (“the Workspace”) users can get job search support like CV preparation, internet search, etc. The webpage states: “Since 1990, the Workspace team has provided employment training and education support for homeless people, people in temporary accommodation and people at risk of becoming homeless.” Well, I am puzzled! For more than 2 1/2 years (from 3 November 2006 to 13 July 2009) we slept rough on the streets of London, having been put there by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) because Declan did not “sign on” two days before he was actually due to do so (see “About us”). Moreover, for the last three months the DWP has given us an absolute nightmare (see, for example, blog of 7 October “After a huge run-around, the Department for Work and Pensions denies me a Crisis Loan”).

Declan was also getting lunch at the Connection – although it costs about £1.50, there is always a queue because many homeless people are receiving benefits (we only received notification of the reinstatement of Declan's joint claim JSA on Saturday). We were also puzzled when on 19 August the Providence Row charity denied us access to food by effectively barring us from entering their Dellow Day Centre in the morning (a coffee in the afternoon is fine!). Declan lodged a formal complaint of discrimination against the Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy with the head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, Archbishop Vincent Nichols (see here); having received nothing by way of reply, he took his complaint on 23 September to the Apostolic Nunciature to Great Britain, Archbishop Faustino Sainz Muñoz (see here); and finally he wrote to Pope Benedict XVI (see here). Shortly after Declan wrote to the pope, the papal nuncio replied (see here) ... to zero effect!

Perhaps also revealing is that Declan and I have been barred from the Methodist Church Whitechapel Day Mission. On 18 June 2007, the minister’s wife barred us due to concerns about our safety following an unprovoked assault on me in the canteen by another homeless woman (crime reference no. 4217341/07; see blog of 18 June 2007 “Assault and bar in the Whitechapel Mission”). Despite that the Whitechapel Mission’s website states that homeless people are not barred or excluded and that Declan wrote by registered post to the minister himself and to the then head of the Methodist Church of Great Britain, Rev. Graham Carter, we were never readmitted.

For the record, this is the email that Declan sent last Saturday to the CEO of The Connection Colin Glover (the letter to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to which Declan refers is published here):

Subject: The Connection at St. Martin-in-the-Fields

Dear Mr. Glover,

I refer to the attached copy of my email of complaint of 15 October to your IT floor supervisor, Ms. Diana Cimpanu ("ComplaintCSTM(15.10.09)”), which I copied to you together with the attachment therein referred to, namely, my email letter of 7 October to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions The Rt. Hon. Yvette Cooper MP regarding the reinstatement of my joint claim for Jobseeker's Allowance (see attachment “Cooper(7.10.09)”).

I wish to confirm that yesterday I was denied access to computers and photocopier in the Connection at St. Martin's by your IT manager Bill (surname withheld), which I had been using since the beginning of August to access my Google Mail account (that is, when possible to do so, see attachment “ComplaintCSTM(15.10.09)”), print CVs and requests for application forms, and photocopying documentation relating to the reinstatement of my joint claim for Jobseeker's Allowance.

You will note that I am once again taking the time to copy the Chief Executive of Providence Row Jo Ansell into my current situation. As I mentioned in the aforementioned email of 15 October to Ms. Cimpanu, it was Ms. Ansell who, on 19 August, denied my wife and me access to food in the Dellow Day Centre run by the Sisters of Mercy in spite of our unstable circumstances (see attachment "Cooper(7.10.09)").

Perhaps you would be so kind as to forward this email and its attachments to the Justice of the Peace in the City of London Lady Diana Brittan, Chair of the Connection at St. Martin's. Ultimately, I will be lodging a formal complaint with the Archbishop of Canterbury His Grace Rowan Williams; by which time I expect to have an alternative contact address for Lady Justice Brittan.

Please would you acknowledge receipt.

Yours sincerely,
Declan Heavey

Email: dheavey@gmail.com

Home address:
83 Priory Gardens
London N6 5QU

cc Lady Diana Brittan, Chair of the Board of Directors of the Connection at St. Martin's
Lord Lloyd of Berwick, Master of the Salters' Company
His Excellency Most Rev. Faustino Sainz Muñoz, Apostolic Nunciature to Great Britain
His Grace Archbishop Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster
Sr. Coirle McCarthy, Congregational Leader of the Sisters of Mercy
His Grace The Duke of Norfolk, Patron of Providence Row
Alderman Sir Michael Oliver, Vice President of Providence Row
Mr. Simon Bartley, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Providence Row
Ms. Jo Ansell, Chief Executive of Providence Row
Mr. Howard Sinclair, Chief Executive of Broadway Homelessness and Support
Superintendent Lorraine Cussen, Snow Hill Police Station

And this is the email that Declan sent last Thursday to the Workspace supervisor, Diana Cimpanu:

Subject: The Connection at St. Martin-in-the-Fields

Dear Ms. Cimpanu,

I refer to our conversations this morning and wish to reconfirm that between 11.15am and 12.00 noon I was unable to access my Google Mail account from the Connection at St. Martin's. I attach copy of my email letter of 7 October to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions The Rt. Hon. Yvette Cooper MP, to which I was unable to gain access.

I regret that I am unable to provide you with a list of the particular days and times I have experienced this anomaly at your day centre since the beginning of August. However, as I told you, this week it has been particularly bad and getting progressively worse; moreover, I have yet to hear another client of yours complain of any such difficulty. In future I will keep accurate and daily records of the time I spend on your computers and any difficulties I experience accessing the internet, for your future reference.

You will note that I am taking the time to copy the Chief Executive of Providence Row Jo Ansell into my current situation. As I have previously explained to you, it was Ms. Ansell who, on 19 August, denied my wife and me access to food in the Dellow Day Centre run by the Sisters of Mercy in spite of our unstable circumstances (see attachment "Cooper(7.10.09)"). I am also copying this email and attachment to, among others, the Justice of the Peace in the City of London Lady Diana Brittan, Chair of the Connection at St. Martin's c/o the Chief Executive of the Connection at St. Martin's Colin Glover at info@cstm.org.uk. (To compound our difficulties, we our in possession since 14 October of neither a tenancy agreement nor a rent book, despite our repeated requests from our live-in landlady for both items.)

Please would you acknowledge receipt.

Yours sincerely
Declan Heavey

Email: dheavey@gmail.com

Home address:
83 Priory Gardens
London N6 5QU

cc Lady Diana Brittan, Chair of the Board of Directors of the Connection at St. Martin's
Mr. Colin Glover, Chief Executive of the Connection at St Martin's
Lord Lloyd of Berwick, Master of the Salters' Company
His Excellency Most Rev. Faustino Sainz Muñoz, Apostolic Nunciature to Great Britain
His Grace Archbishop Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster
Sr. Coirle McCarthy, Congregational Leader of the Sisters of Mercy
His Grace The Duke of Norfolk, Patron of Providence Row
Alderman Sir Michael Oliver, Vice President of Providence Row
Mr. Simon Bartley, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Providence Row
Ms. Jo Ansell, Chief Executive of Providence Row
Mr. Howard Sinclair, Chief Executive of Broadway Homelessness and Support
Superintendent Lorraine Cussen, Snow Hill Police Station

Idea Store Whitechapel library blocks my laptop from accessing the Internet

Well, it seems obstacles just keep coming our way: in yesterday’s blog, I published a letter that Declan wrote to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions concerning the difficulties we are experiencing trying to get the benefits we are entitled to - and this after the Department for Work and Pensions unlawfully put us the street for more than 2 1/2 years; in the blog of last Wednesday (see here), I published a letter Declan wrote to the Papal Nuncio in London about his formal complaint of discrimination against the Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy - for denying us access to food!

Today I had to put away my laptop because Tower Hamlets Council’s Idea Store Whitechapel library - where I have been doing all my work since we were put to the street in November 2006 - restricted my access to their network to “local only” (a first), effectively blocking my access to the Internet. I didn’t see anybody else raising the issue with a member of staff. Anyway, I am unlucky: the technician is away for the day and no other staff member “has the expertise” to deal with my query. Next time, Declan will write to the Leader of Tower Hamlets Council, Councillor Lutfur Rahman (see blog of 13 May “Letter to the Leader of Tower Hamlets Council”).

So much for the work I had hoped to do on “War on Terror” today - I have been sent some amazing stuff from a conference that was held in Buenos Aires a couple of weeks ago; of course, now I'm twice as interested! This is the email Declan sent to the manager of the library a moment ago:

Subject: Idea Store Whitechapel

Dear Mr. Ali,

I wish to confirm that at 1.00pm my wife brought to the attention of a member of your staff that she didn't have access to the Internet via her laptop. At 1.30pm, a member of staff explained to her that the technician is away for the day and that there is no-one else in the IT Department that has the expertise to explain to her why she is the only person in the library whose access to the Idea Store network has been restricted to "local only".

I can confirm that as at this moment (3.00pm) no Internet access has been restored to my wife on her laptop, and a member of staff has only spoken further to her to reconfirm that nothing can be done to rectify the situation today.

I present below a copy of my email to you on 21 September.

Yours sincerely,
Declan Heavey

cc Ms. Heather Bonfield, Head of Cultural Services

----------------------

21 September 2009

Subject: Idea Store Whitechapel

Dear Mr. Ali,

I wish to confirm that at 5.30pm this evening my wife brought to the attention of a member of your staff that her access to the Internet via her laptop had slowed down to an almost standstill. She inquired of this member of staff if she was the only user experiencing such difficulties, as no announcements had been made and no other user seemed to be having problems using the Idea Store network. I can confirm that as at this moment (6.45pm) no Internet access has been restored to my wife, nor has any member of staff spoken further to her.

Yours sincerely,
Declan Heavey

Letter to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions

This morning, Declan wrote once again to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Yvette Cooper, about the difficulties we are experiencing trying to get the benefits we are entitled to - and this after the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) unlawfully put us the street for more than 2 1/2 years. All is explained in letter below, but in sum, we are being paid half our benefit entitlement since 17 July because the DWP has effectively lost my National Insurance number and will not reissue me with another one. I should perhaps mention that in the previous blog I publish an Open Letter that Declan wrote to the Papal Nuncio in London, Rev. Faustino Sainz Muñoz, regarding his formal complaint of discrimination against the Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy: on 19 August, the Providence Row charity run by the Sisters of Mercy denied us access to food! This is the email letter Declan just sent to Cooper:

Subject: Reinstatement of my joint claim for Jobseeker's Allowance

Dear Secretary of State,

I refer to previous correspondence, in particular my registered letters to you of 9 and 21 September. I attach copy of my complaint of 23 September that I lodged with His Excellency Most Rev. Faustino Sainz Muñoz, Apostolic Nunciature to Great Britain, against the Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy for unlawful discrimination involving the Chief Executive of Providence Row, Mrs. Jo Ansell (see attachment “Complaint(23.9.09)”). The letter opens as follows:

On 19 August 2009, my wife and I were denied access to food in the Dellow Centre of Providence Row of the RC Diocese of Westminster because, according to a Providence Row letter of 18 August, our “room/flat” is deemed by the charity “to be stable accommodation”.

With regard to the reinstatement of my joint claim for Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) - which originally ran from July 2005 until it was terminated on 27 September 2006 because I did not "sign on" two days before I was due to so on 29 September 2006 - I reconfirm that Broadway Homelessness and Support ("Broadway") gathered on 31 July 2009 more specific details from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) about my benefits claim of 17 July 2009. I was informed by Broadway that although my part of the claim had been processed (and £101.05 for the period 17 July to 30 July subsequently paid on 11 August), my wife's part of the claim has been suspended from the outset of the claim because the DWP has effectively lost her National Insurance Number (NINO), and consequently she needs to reissued a NINO before her part of the claim can be processed. (On 18 June 2008, I was robbed in the canteen of the Dellow Centre of all my and my wife's money and documents, crime reference no. 4215697/08; I was informed at Bow Road police station on 24 June 2008 that the case had been struck out due to the police being unable to obtain any CCTV footage whatsoever from Providence Row (see attachment "Ansell(25.6.08)").)

In numerous emails to the Chief Executive of Broadway, Mr. Howard Sinclair, which I copied to you for information, I pointed out that am also in receipt of a letter of 4 August from Haringey Council in respect of my claim for Housing Benefit, informing me that I must (a) tell them my wife's NINO and provide proof that it belongs to her by submitting a letter or form issued by the DWP, and (b) provide current proof of my wife's JSA by way of a recent letter from the DWP showing my current address. The Council advises in this letter that I must provide them with both of these proofs before 4 September or my claim for Housing Benefit may be suspended. We have subsequently received nothing in writing from Haringey Council to indicate that my claim for Housing Benefit remains open until the outcome of my joint claim JSA.

I can confirm that my wife has yet to be reissued the NINO - her initial appointment for 3 September at Camden NINO Jobcentre was cancelled due to "a regular clerical error", according to Broadway (see attachment "Broadway(8.9.09)"); she was subsequently interviewed on 10 September, but informed that it could take several weeks for the NINO to be reissued. Moreover, I understand that the DWP continue to be of no assistance to Broadway in providing the letter I am seeking that confirms that the payments of £128.60 I received on 18 August (for the period 31 July to 13 August) and 28 August (for the period 14 August to 27 August) are "hardship payments" for 2 persons - and not payments of my wife's JSA, which I only learnt from Broadway on 2 September is still suspended. I have repeatedly requested of Broadway that I be advised as to how long this letter will take to be processed and sent out. On 8 September, I received a reply from Mr. James Laurie for and on behalf of the charity, stating: "I will be in touch when I have heard back from the Jobcentre regarding the letter confirming hardship payments" (see attachment "Broadway(8.9.09)").

On 14 September, Broadway made inquiries of the DWP as to why my wife and I had received no benefit payment of any description from the DWP for the period 28 August to 10 September, but the DWP was unwilling to discuss my claim with them because they were not "sitting with the claimant" (see attachment "Broadway(14.9.09)"). I attended Broadway Head Office on 15 September to call the DWP to ask them whether the NINO had been allocated and where things stood with my claim. I was informed by the DWP that there was "no information" on my wife's NINO, and that £128.60 in payment of my JSA (not a hardship payment for 2 persons) would be lodged to our account later that day. Accordingly, my wife attended Broadway Head Office on 16 September to apply for her third Crisis Loan (our fourth in total) on top of the £230 we already owed the DWP in crisis loans since 20 July. She requested £40 for the period 16 September to 29 September (2 weeks), but was denied by the DWP because they did not have a NINO in her name. On 17 September, she again applied for a crisis loan, this time with both Broadway’s and my assistance, but was told that £128.60 was deemed by the DWP to be enough money for two people to survive on for a two-week period, the previous two crisis loans in her name of £70 (for the period 3 August to 16 August) and £20 (for the period 18 August to 24 August) notwithstanding.

We now have a very serious set of circumstances that may result in us being forced to return to sleeping rough at Salters' Hall. To further exacerbate the situation, I continue to be denied access to food in the Dellow Centre, despite my repeated protestations to the Archbishop of Westminster, His Grace Archbishop Vincent Nichols, and the Congregational Leader of the Sisters of Mercy, Sr. Coirle McCarthy, about our unstable circumstances. The DWP terminated our benefits in September 2006 because I did not sign up early enough – even though both my wife and I were doing so in a timely fashion; and I exhausted the appeals process from the street: my case was dismissed by the High Court (Judicial Review), Court of Appeal and European Court of Human Rights in spite of the fact that I was denied the internal appeal process by procedural impropriety on the part of the enforcement authority. That we are now dealing with a series of obvious "mistakes" (however deliberate), I cannot imagine what would motivate the authorities to repeatedly deny us benefits to which we are entitled.

You will note that I am taking the time to once again copy Superintendent Lorraine Cussen of Snow Hill Police Station into my current situation. As I mentioned in my registered letter to you of 9 September, it was Superintendent Cussen who, as the supervisory police officer who is overseeing Operation Poncho II within the City of London Police, suggested that I seek the assistance of Broadway (see attachment "Cussen(13.7.09)"). I am also copying this email and attachments to, among others, the former Law Lord, Lord Lloyd of Berwick, Master of the Salters’ Company c/o the Clerk to the Salters’ Company at clerk@salters.co.uk.

Please would you acknowledge receipt.

Yours sincerely
Declan Heavey
NI no. -------------------

Email: dheavey@gmail.com

Home address:
83 Priory Gardens
London N6 5QU

cc Lord Lloyd of Berwick, Master of the Salters' Company
His Excellency Most Rev. Faustino Sainz Muñoz, Apostolic Nunciature to Great Britain
His Grace Archbishop Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster
Sr. Coirle McCarthy, Congregational Leader of the Sisters of Mercy
His Grace The Duke of Norfolk, Patron of Providence Row
Alderman Sir Michael Oliver, Vice President of Providence Row
Mr. Simon Bartley, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Providence Row
Mrs. Jo Ansell, Chief Executive of Providence Row
Mr. Howard Sinclair, Chief Executive of Broadway Homelessness and Support
Superintendent Lorraine Cussen, Snow Hill Police Station

Department for Work and Pensions again denies me a Crisis Loan

As I said in yesterday’s blog “Department for Work and Pensions denies me a Crisis Loan”, this morning I was going to again request of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) a £40 Crisis Loan for living expenses for the next two weeks – the DWP has suspended my benefits because they have effectively lost my National Insurance Number (NINO) and I may have to wait several weeks to be reissued the NINO. Yesterday they denied me the loan because I don’t have ... a NINO. This morning, despite Declan's assistance, they denied me because Declan is deemed to have received enough for the two of us to survive on.

The fact that the £128.60 Declan got on Tuesday has to last him until 29 September is neither here nor there, according to the DWP officer I was speaking with. She was curious as to how I was surviving since I got my last crisis loan of £20 on 18 August (for the period 18 August to 24 August), and when I told her that the DWP made us homeless for more than 2 1/2 years and sometimes I find sandwiches discarded in bins which I then keep in the fridge, she was like ... well, there you are! Declan has once again written to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Yvette Cooper, presented below, and will write to her again after I reapply next Wednesday for £20 for one week (the previous blog contains an email letter to Cooper, and also blogs of 15 September “Department for Work and Pensions forces me to apply for a Crisis Loan”, and of 9 September “Declan complains to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions”).

As I explained in the blog of 11 September “Declan’s formal complaint against the Sisters of Mercy lodged with the Archbishop of Westminster”, I am currently working on the “War on Terror” in the NAC website. In the book The War on Truth, bestselling British author and political analyst Dr. Nafeez Ahmed writes that “global citizens should organize and gather together resources and experts to establish the rudimentary beginnings of a public inquiry into the global war on terror and its roots”. So, as I am going around gathering high quality videos for the site, I have come across this one, “Anthrax War”, a provocative new investigative documentary by filmmakers Bob Coen and Eric Nadler (a Canada-France coproduction) that examines the 2001 US Anthrax Attacks and offers a shocking glimpse into today’s secret and dangerous world of germ weapons:

Anthrax War Pt 1. Anthrax War is a provocative new investigative documentary by filmmakers Bob Coen and Eric Nadler about the untold story of the 2001 U.S. Anthrax Attacks and the dark secrets of the shadowy world of modern day germ weapons research. The search for answers takes them from the US to the UK, then to the edge of Siberia and to Southern Africa and leads them into an underworld in which leading scientists working with germs die under mysterious circumstances. The growing list includes Bruce Ivins, who the FBI claims was the only person behind the U.S. anthrax murders; Dr. David Kelly, the former head of UK bio-defense; and Dr. Vladimir Pasechnik, the mastermind behind the Soviet Union's vast and illegal bio-weapons complex who defected to the West. Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6.

For the record, this is Declan’s email letter this morning to Cooper:

Subject: Reinstatement of my joint claim for Jobseeker's Allowance

Dear Secretary of State,

I refer to previous correspondence, in particular my registered letter to you of 9 September to which I do not appear to have received a reply. I attach copy of my complaint of 11 September that I lodged with His Grace Archbishop Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, against the Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy for unlawful discrimination involving the Chief Executive of Providence Row, Mrs. Jo Ansell (see attachment “Complaint(11.9.09)”). The letter opens as follows:

On 19 August 2009, my wife and I were denied access to food in the Dellow Centre of Providence Row of the RC Diocese of Westminster because, according to a Providence Row letter of 18 August, our “room/flat” is deemed by the charity “to be stable accommodation”.

With regard to the reinstatement of my joint claim for Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) - which originally ran from July 2005 until it was terminated on 27 September 2006 because I did not "sign on" two days before I was due to so on 29 September 2006 - I reconfirm that Broadway Homelessness and Support ("Broadway") gathered on 31 July 2009 more specific details from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) about my benefits claim of 17 July 2009. I was informed by Broadway that although my part of the claim had been processed (and £101.05 for the period 17 July to 30 July subsequently paid on 11 August), my wife's part of the claim has been suspended from the outset of the claim because the DWP has effectively lost her National Insurance Number (NINO), and consequently she needs to reissued a NINO before her part of the claim can be processed. (On 18 June 2008, I was robbed in the canteen of the Dellow Centre of all my and my wife's money and documents, crime reference no. 4215697/08; I was informed at Bow Road police station on 24 June 2008 that the case had been struck out due to the police being unable to obtain any CCTV footage whatsoever from Providence Row (see attachment "Ansell(25.6.08)").)

In numerous emails to the Chief Executive of Broadway, Mr. Howard Sinclair, which I copied to you for information, I pointed out that am also in receipt of a letter of 4 August from Haringey Council in respect of my claim for Housing Benefit, informing me that I must (a) tell them my wife's NINO and provide proof that it belongs to her by submitting a letter or form issued by the DWP, and (b) provide current proof of my wife's JSA by way of a recent letter from the DWP showing my current address. The Council advises in this letter that I must provide them with both of these proofs before 4 September or my claim for Housing Benefit may be suspended. We have subsequently received nothing in writing from Haringey Council to indicate that my claim for Housing Benefit remains open until the outcome of my joint claim JSA.

I can confirm that my wife has yet to be reissued the NINO - her initial appointment for 3 September at Camden NINO Jobcentre was cancelled due to "a regular clerical error", according to Broadway (see attachment "Broadway(8.9.09)"); she was subsequently interviewed on 10 September, but informed that it could take several weeks for the NINO to be reissued. Moreover, I understand that the DWP are not being of assistance to Broadway in providing the letter I am seeking that confirms that the payments of £128.60 I received on 18 August (for the period 31 July to 13 August) and 28 August (for the period 14 August to 27 August) are "hardship payments" for 2 persons - and not payments of my wife's JSA, which I only learnt from Broadway on 2 September is still suspended. I have repeatedly requested of Broadway that I be advised as to how long this letter will take to be processed and sent out. On 8 September, I received a reply from Mr. James Laurie for and on behalf of the charity, stating: "I will be in touch when I have heard back from the Jobcentre regarding the letter confirming hardship payments" (see attachment "Broadway(8.9.09)").

On 14 September, Broadway made inquiries of the DWP as to why my wife and I had received no benefit payment of any description from the DWP for the period 28 August to 10 September, but the DWP was unwilling to discuss my claim with them because they were not "sitting with the claimant" (see attachment "Broadway(14.9.09)"). I attended Broadway Head Office on 15 September to call the DWP to ask them whether the NINO had been allocated and where things stood with my claim. I was informed by the DWP that there was "no information" on my wife's NINO, and that £128.60 in payment of my JSA (not a hardship payment for 2 persons) would be lodged to our account later that day. Accordingly, my wife attended Broadway Head Office yesterday morning to apply for her third Crisis Loan (our fourth in total) on top of the £230 we already owe the DWP in crisis loans since 20 July. She requested £40 for the period 16 September to 29 September (2 weeks), but was denied by the DWP because they did not have a NINO in her name. This morning she applied again with Broadway's and my assistance, but was told that £128.60 was deemed by the DWP to be sufficient money for two people to survive on for a two-week period, the previous two crisis loans in her name of £70 (for the period 3 August to 16 August) and £20 (for the period 18 August to 24 August) notwithstanding.

We now have a very serious set of circumstances that may result in us being forced to return to sleeping rough at Salters' Hall. To further exacerbate the situation, I continue to be denied access to food in the Dellow Centre, despite my repeated protestations to the Congregational Leader of the Sisters of Mercy, Sr. Coirle McCarthy, about our unstable circumstances (see attachment “Complaint(11.9.09)”). The DWP terminated our benefits in September 2006 because I did not sign up early enough – even though both my wife and I were doing so in a timely fashion; and I exhausted the appeals process from the street: my case was dismissed by the High Court (Judicial Review), Court of Appeal and European Court of Human Rights in spite of the fact that I was denied the internal appeal process by procedural impropriety on the part of the enforcement authority. That we are now dealing with a series of obvious "mistakes" (however deliberate), I cannot imagine what would motivate the authorities to repeatedly deny us benefits to which we are entitled.

You will note that I am taking the time to once again copy Superintendent Lorraine Cussen of Snow Hill Police Station into my current situation. As I mentioned in my registered letter to you of 9 September, it was Superintendent Cussen who, as the supervisory police officer who is overseeing Operation Poncho II within the City of London Police, suggested that I seek the assistance of Broadway (see attachment "Cussen(13.7.09)"). I am also copying this email and attachments to, among others, the former Law Lord, Lord Lloyd of Berwick, Master of the Salters’ Company c/o the Clerk to the Salters’ Company at clerk@salters.co.uk.

Please would you acknowledge receipt.

Yours sincerely
Declan Heavey
NI no. ------------

Email: dheavey@gmail.com

Home address:
83 Priory Gardens
London N6 5QU

cc Lord Lloyd of Berwick, Master of the Salters' Company
His Grace Archbishop Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster
Sr. Coirle McCarthy, Congregational Leader of the Sisters of Mercy
His Grace The Duke of Norfolk, Patron of Providence Row
Alderman Sir Michael Oliver, Vice President of Providence Row
Mr. Simon Bartley, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Providence Row
Mrs. Jo Ansell, Chief Executive of Providence Row
Mr. Howard Sinclair, Chief Executive of Broadway Homelessness and Support
Superintendent Lorraine Cussen, Snow Hill Police Station

Letter to the CEO of Broadway on the seriousness of our situation

As I said in the previous blog, “The Department for Work and Pensions refuses to interview me this morning for a NINO”, Declan wrote yesterday to the CEO of Broadway Homelessness and Support, Howard Sinclair, who is assisting us in overcoming the various obstacles that the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) continues to place in our way to stop us from getting the benefits we are entitled to - and this after putting us to the street for more than 2 1/2 years. His first email to Sinclair yesterday is presented below. It is the lead attachment to the email letter he has composed for leading human rights lawyers here in London; another attachment is a formal complaint Declan lodged against the Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy on the grounds of unlawful discrimination (it can be read in the blog of 1 September “Declan lodges his complaint against the Sisters of Mercy”).

This letter to Sinclair is copied to, among others, the former Law Lord, Lord Lloyd of Berwick, Master of the Salters’ Company. It was at the headquarters of the Salters’ Company that we slept for almost a year before gaining access to a roof over our heads on 13 July (see blog of 26 July “We are interviewed on The Real Deal”).

Salters’ Company describes itself as a company very largely devoted to charity which also plays an important part in the system of local government in the City of London. Well, they seem to think we are going back to the street: they have covered the porch we slept in from January in sand bags! It means we will be moving back to where we slept from September 2008 through to January: about twenty paces from their front entrance, down some twelve steps (see, for example, blog of 5 June “Salters back in the spotlight”).

Today is Declan’s birthday, which reminds me that this day last year we returned to the porch we had been using since 3 November 2006 only to find that … a trellis gate had been installed (see blog of 5 September 2008 “A trellis gate is installed in the porch”). Anyway, we are being given such a run around by the DWP that I still haven’t finished our feature of the month for September. Last month we featured the assassination of the abortion doctor George Tiller on 31 May, in the United States, in “An Abortion Battle, Fought to the Death”. This month, as part of our questioning the “war on terror”, I am featuring the long-gagged FBI whistleblower Sibel Edmonds, who has finally testified in court under oath about some of the things that she learned while working for the bureau. This documentary, “Kill The Messenger”, will be included:



This is Declan’s email to Sinclair yesterday afternoon:

Subject: Broadway assistance in claiming Jobseeker's Allowance

Dear Mr. Sinclair,

Previous correspondence refers. I attach copy of a formal complaint that I lodged with Providence Row against the Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy for unlawful discrimination involving the Chief Executive of Providence Row, Mrs. Jo Ansell (see attachment “Complaint(1.9.09)”). Paragraph 1 under the heading “Please outline your complaint” states as follows:

On 19 August 2009 my wife and I were denied access to food in the Dellow Centre of Providence Row in London because, according to a Providence Row letter of 18 August, our “room/flat” is deemed by the charity “to be stable accommodation” (see Supporting Documents, p. 14).

With regard to the reinstatement of my joint claim for Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) - which originally ran from July 2005 until it was terminated on 27 September 2006 because I did not "sign on" two days before I was due to so on 29 September 2006 - Broadway Homelessness and Support gathered on 31 July 2009 more specific details from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) about my benefits claim of 17 July 2009. I was informed by the Broadway City Outreach team that although my part of the claim had been processed (and subsequently paid), my wife's part of the claim is currently suspended because the DWP has effectively lost her National Insurance Number (NINO), and consequently she needs to reissued a NINO before her part of the claim can be processed. (On 18 June 2008, I was robbed in the canteen of the Dellow Centre of all my and my wife's money and documents, crime reference no. 4215697/08; I was informed at Bow Road police station on 24 June 2008 that the case had been struck out due to the police being unable to obtain any CCTV footage whatsoever from Providence Row (see attachment "Ansell(25.6.08)").)

As first mentioned in my email to you of 6 August, I am also in receipt of a letter of 4 August from Haringey Council in respect of my claim for Housing Benefit, informing me that I must (a) tell them my wife's NINO and provide proof that it belongs to her by submitting a letter or form issued by the DWP, and (b) provide current proof of my wife's JSA by way of a recent letter from the DWP showing my current address. The Council advises that I must provide them with both of these proofs before 4 September or my claim for Housing Benefit may be suspended. We have subsequently received nothing in writing from Haringey Council to indicate that my claim for Housing Benefit remains open until the outcome of my joint claim JSA.

My wife has yet to be reissued the NINO, her initial appointment for 3 September at Camden NINO Jobcentre having been cancelled due to a clerical error. Moreover, I understand that Broadway Homelessness and Support will not be of assistance to me in acquiring from the DWP the letter I am seeking confirming that the payments of £128.60 I received on 18 August and 28 August are hardship payments for 2 persons - and not payments of my wife's JSA, which I only learnt from the Broadway City Outreach team yesterday is still suspended (see “Broadway(2.9.09)”).

My wife and I now have a very serious set of circumstances that may result in us being forced to return to sleeping rough at Salters' Hall. To exacerbate the situation, we continue to be denied access to food in the Dellow Centre, notwithstanding my repeated protestations to the Congregational Leader of the Sisters of Mercy, Sr. Coirle McCarthy, about our unstable circumstances (see attachment “Complaint(1.9.09)”). The DWP terminated our benefits in September 2006 because I did not sign up early enough – even though both my wife and I were doing so in a timely fashion; and I exhausted the appeals process: my case was dismissed by the High Court (Judicial Review), Court of Appeal and European Court of Human Rights, despite that I was denied the internal appeal process by procedural impropriety on the part of the enforcement authority. That we are now dealing with another obvious "mistake" (however deliberate), I cannot imagine what would motivate the authorities to deny my wife the NINO to which she is entitled.

You will note that I am taking the time to once again copy Superintendent Lorraine Cussen of Snow Hill Police Station into my current situation. As you are aware, it was Superintendent Cussen who, as the supervisory police officer who is overseeing Operation Poncho II within the City of London Police, suggested that I seek the assistance of Broadway Homelesssness and Support (see attachment "Cussen(13.7.09)"). I am also copying this email and attachments to, among others, the former Law Lord, Lord Lloyd of Berwick, Master of the Salters’ Company c/o the Clerk to the Salters’ Company at clerk@salters.co.uk.

Please would you acknowledge receipt.

Yours sincerely
Declan Heavey

cc The Rt. Hon. Yvette Cooper MP, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Lord Lloyd of Berwick, Master of the Salters' Company
Sr. Coirle McCarthy, Congregational Leader of the Sisters of Mercy
His Grace Archbishop Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster
His Grace The Duke of Norfolk, Patron of Providence Row
Alderman Sir Michael Oliver, Vice President of Providence Row
Mr. Simon Bartley, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Providence Row
Mrs. Jo Ansell, Chief Executive of Providence Row
Superintendent Lorraine Cussen, Snow Hill Police Station

The Department for Work and Pensions refuses to interview me this morning for a NINO

As I said in the blog of 18 August “The Department for Work and Pensions denies me a Crisis Loan”, the Department (DWP) has suspended my benefits because they have lost my National Insurance Number (NINO). As a consequence, I have to attend an interview – to prove that I am who I say I am and my circumstances are what I say they are – to be reissued a NINO. Broadway Homelessness and Support have in fact been chasing this interview up since we got a roof over our heads on 13 July, after more than two and a half years sleeping rough on the streets of London (see for example blog of 6 August 2009 “The Department for Work and Pensions is putting us back to the street”).

Our history with the DWP goes back a long way: We came to England in 2003 and for two years attempted to get NAC up and running; we went on benefits in July 2005; the DWP terminated our benefits on 27 September 2006 because Declan did not “sign on” two days before he was due to do so on 29 September. Declan exhausted the appeals process from the street: the case was dismissed by the High Court (Judicial Review), Court of Appeal and European Court of Human Rights, despite that we were denied the internal appeal process by procedural impropriety on the part of the enforcement authority (see, for example, blog of 12 July “Police threaten us with physical force at the place we sleep, Salters”).

Anyway, Broadway finally got an email on 26 August from the DWP stating that I had a NINO appointment in Camden NINO Jobcentre for this morning at 10.00am, and that I should have with me a letter from the police on the robbery of all our money and documents at the Dellow Day Centre run by the Sisters of Mercy (see blog of 18 June 2008 “Declan robbed in the Sisters of Mercy Dellow Centre”). I shouldn’t have bothered. The email that Broadway received from the DWP was “inaccurate”, the member of staff adding: “Sorry you wasted your time.” I now have to go back on 10 September … Oh, well.

For the record, this is Declan’s letter this evening to the CEO of Broadway, Howard Sinclair:

Subject: NINO meeting

Dear Mr. Sinclair,

Previous correspondence refers. On 26 August 2009, Broadway Homelessness and Support received from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) my wife’s National Insurance Number (NINO) reallocation appointment in Camden NINO Jobcentre for 3 September at 10.00am (see attachment “Broadway(26.8.09)”). Nonetheless, the DWP issued a NINO Appointment Letter on 27 August 2009 addressed to my wife stating that her interview at Camden NINO Jobcentre has been made for 10 September at 11.30am (see “DWP(27.8.09)”).

I can confirm that my wife kept her appointment at Camden NINO Jobcentre this morning, but was informed by a member of staff that the email letter of 26 August that Broadway Homelessness and Support received from the DWP was “inaccurate”, and that she was to return on 10 September at 11.30am. In accordance with this email letter of 26 August, my wife had in her possession the following documents/letters, etc. that would support who she says she is and support her circumstances:

- The Crime reference letter with the crime number on the theft of a holdall containing all my and my wife’s money and documents, including two passports in our names, from the Dellow Centre, London E1 7SA (see attachment “CRL(29.8.09)”)

- Letter of ‘support’ from the Dellow Centre confirming the length of time that we have been attending there - that to the best of their knowledge Mrs. Heavey is who she says she is, etc.

- Big Issue ID

- Evidence regarding the Joint claim made in 2005

Supplementary documents/letters, etc. include:

- Yorkshire Building Society cash card and stamped Account Verification printout

- Shorthold Tenancy Agreement

- Copy of Habitual Residence Test statement made by the investigating officer in 2005

- Copy of each of the following: passport, Irish citizenship certificate, marriage certificate, and birth certificate

In reference the above cited documents/letters, etc., Mr. James Laurie for and on behalf of Broadway Homelessness and Support wrote on 1 September: “Thank you again for this information. I am sure that the documentation you have gathered will be sufficient proof of identity and a decision will be made in your wife’s favor.” Please advise if this is no longer the case.

You will note that I am taking the time to once again copy Superintendent Lorraine Cussen of Snow Hill Police Station into my current situation. As you are aware, it was Superintendent Cussen who, as the supervisory police officer who is overseeing Operation Poncho II within the City of London Police, suggested that I seek the assistance of Broadway Homelessness and Support (see attachment "Cussen(13.7.09)").

Yours sincerely,

Declan Heavey

cc The Rt. Hon. Yvette Cooper MP, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Superintendent Lorraine Cussen, Snow Hill Police Station
The Manager, Camden NINO Jobcentre (by registered post - with attachments)

Declan barred from the Dellow Centre

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and Haringey Council making it as difficult as possible for us to get the benefits we are entitled to and already the Dellow Day Centre of Providence Row Charity run by the Sisters of Mercy is showing us the door! Declan was barred from the centre this morning (he has access in the afternoon for a cup of coffee!) and I will be too as soon as the DWP decides to lift the suspension on my Jobseeker’s Allowance (see previous blog dated 6 August “The Department for Work and Pensions is putting us back to the street”). It means Declan has now lost his breakfast and I have lost my lunch, since the cheese sandwich that the nuns give Declan with his cereal and three toast has been my lunch for many, many months.

Their website states: “With help from our supporters we continue to expand the range of services we have on offer at the Dellow Centre, enabling people to permanently break the cycles of homelessness and poverty” - that bit mustn’t apply to us, though. The reception manager didn’t agree with me either that a three-month lease subject to month’s notice at any time constitutes vulnerable accommodation. The Duke of Norfolk, the Patron of Providence Row, states in their Annual Report 2007-2008 that “the staff and volunteers at Providence Row follow their mission to help anyone who comes to them retain their dignity and health, and explore options for their future.” And just a bit below, one can read: “Helping clients find housing and accommodation remains a number one priority for us.” Well, I am puzzled.

Anyway, only last night I uploaded to the NAC website a new section in “What we do” called “Question the war on terror”; we feature on our homepage "Questioning the War on Terror" by Dr. Kevin Barrett, now the flagship of the site. Below is a video by award journalist John Pilger, which features in this new section. And below the video is a letter that Declan sent this afternoon to the CEO of Broadway Homelessness and Support, Howard Sinclair. Declan is once again copying the email to Superintendent Lorraine Cussen (see blog of 12 July “Police threaten us with physical force at the place we sleep, Salters”). In fact, as I said in the previous blog, Declan has an email from Superintendent Cussen, stating: “Thank you for taking the time to copy me into your current situation. I hope that Broadway have been able to assist you.”

"Breaking The Silence - Truth and Lies in the War on Terror" by John Pilger. Award-winning journalist John Pilger dissects the truth and lies in the "war on terror". Pilger investigates the discrepancies between American and British claims for the "war on terror" and the facts on the ground as he finds them in Afghanistan and Washington, DC. A Special Report (pdf) by John Pilger can be read at Bullfrog Films website.

And Declan’s email this afternoon to Sinclair:

Subject: Broadway assistance in claiming Jobseeker's Allowance

Dear Mr. Sinclair,

Previous correspondence refers. I reattach copy of my email of 14 May 2009 to the head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, Archbishop Vincent Nichols, in his capacity as Archbishop of the Diocese of Westminster, to which belongs the Dellow Day Centre of Providence Row Charity run by the Sisters of Mercy. Paragraph 3(2) states as follows:

18 June 2008: I was robbed in the canteen of the Dellow Centre of all my and my wife's money and documents (crime reference no. 4215697/08); 24 June: I was informed at Bow Street police station that the case had been struck out due to the police being unable to obtain any CCTV footage whatsoever from Providence Row Charity.

With regard to the reinstatement of my joint claim for Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) - which originally ran from July 2005 until it was terminated on 27 September 2006 because I did not "sign on" two days before I was due to so on 29 September - Broadway Homelessness and Support gathered on 31 July 2009 more specific details from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) about my benefits claim of 17 July. I was informed by Broadway City Outreach team that although my part of the claim had been processed (and subsequently paid), my wife's part of the claim is currently suspended because the DWP has lost her National Insurance Number (NINO) and, as a consequence, she needs to be issued with a new NINO before her part of the claim can be paid.

As first stated in my email to you of 6 August, I am in receipt of a letter of 4 August from Haringey Council advising that the Council cannot process my claim for Housing Benefit/Council Tax Benefit until they have more information to work out my benefit. I must (i) tell them my partner's National Insurance Number and provide proof that it belongs to her/him, for example, a letter or form issued by the DWP or HM Revenue and Customs, and (ii) provide current proof of my partner's Jobseeker's Allowance (Income Based)/(Contribution Based) in the form of a recent letter from the DWP showing my current address or a recent bank statement showing the most up to date payment being paid directly into their account. I have also pointed out in a number of emails to you that the Council states that I must give all this information to them within one month of the date of same letter, or my claim for housing benefit (to be treated as made on 17 July) will not be paid and I will have to reapply.

As you are aware, it has been my understanding since 4 August that (a) Broadway Homelessness and Support expect to receive the letter of invitation from the DWP for the NINO allocation appointment ASAP, given my wife's original NINO has been "lost" by the Department, and (b) Broadway City Outreach team has been informed by the DWP that the fact that we were unable to retrieve any personal identification documents following the aforementioned robbery at the Dellow Centre will not militate against my wife, and that her Big Issue vendor badge (badge no. 1170) will suffice in the circumstances. With regard to the former of these understandings, I note that Broadway Homelessness and Support has yet to receive this letter.

This has now become an extremely serious situation for my wife and me, and may, should it continue much longer, see us back sleeping rough at Salters' Hall. To further compound the situation, this morning I was denied access to food in the Dellow Centre because, according to Mr. Keith Armitage, Reception and Support Services Manager, they have been informed by Broadway Homelessness and Support that I "have a flat with access to a kitchen". (I am seeking written clarification from the Dellow Centre of the situation with regard to my wife, whose benefits have been suspended, before lodging a formal complaint against the Sisters of Mercy with the Archbishop of Westminster on the grounds of unlawful discrimination and seeking legal representation to pursue my claim.) Tomorrow my wife and I will turn up at Broadway Homelessness and Support head office to seek assistance in applying for a second crisis loan in her name, our accumulated debt to the DWP of £210 as from 20 July notwithstanding. I wrote to Broadway City Outreach team on Friday requesting an appointment for tomorrow for this purpose, and have just received a reply, stating: "We have a busy morning tomorrow and I am having trouble finding someone to be in the office to assist Maria with her Crisis Loan claim."

In September 2006 the DWP terminated our benefits because I did not sign up early enough – even though both my wife and I were doing so in a timely fashion; and I exhausted the appeals process: my case was dismissed by the High Court (Judicial Review), Court of Appeal and European Court of Human Rights, despite that I was denied the internal appeal process by procedural impropriety on the part of the enforcement authority. That we are now dealing with another obvious "mistake" (however deliberate) - namely, the losing of my wife's NINO by the DWP - I cannot imagine what would motivate the officials to prevent me from successfully establishing a joint claim leading to my landlady being paid the full amount of backdated housing benefit.

You will note that I am taking the time to once again copy Superintendent Lorraine Cussen of Snow Hill Police Station into my current situation. As you are aware, it was Superintendent Cussen who, as the supervisory police officer overseeing Operation Poncho II within the City of London Police, suggested that I seek the assistance of Broadway Homelesssness and Support (see attached email of 13 July 2009 from Superintendent Cussen). I am also copying this email and attachments to, among others, the former Law Lord, Lord Lloyd of Berwick, Master of the Salters’ Company c/o the Clerk to the Salters’ Company at clerk@salters.co.uk.

Please would you acknowledge receipt.

Yours sincerely
Declan Heavey

cc The Rt. Hon. Yvette Cooper MP, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Lord Lloyd of Berwick, Master of the Salters’ Company
His Grace Archbishop Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster
Mrs. Jo. Ansell, Chief Executive of Providence Row Charity
Superintendent Lorraine Cussen, Snow Hill Police Station

Police threaten to physically remove us from where we sleep

It looks like things are going to get violent tonight at our sleeping pitch – a porch of the Salters’ Hall located on a derelict highwalk (see blog of 5 June “Salters back in the spotlight” for two Google map photos of the pitch). A short briefing: on Thursday night we found three notices stating that the Salters’ Company would report to “the authorities” anyone found sleeping in the porch (see here); and on Friday night we found two additional notices from the City of London Police (see previous blog here).

As I have written previously, we have been sleeping in this porch since January. For some months prior to this, we slept about twenty paces from the front entrance of the same building, down some twelve steps. Prior to that, we slept for almost two years in a porch at street level until a trellis gate was installed … on Declan’s birthday! In the previous blog, I also gave a short description of the occasions I have been assaulted while sleeping on a street level.

Anyway, at about 10.30pm we were woken up by the Beadle to the Salters’ Company, Michel Goeller - the Salters’ Company, one of the Twelve Great City Livery Companies, grew up in the early Middle Ages, and plays an important part in the system of local government in the City of London, reflecting its historical roots. (In Friday’s blog I actually publish a picture of the former Law Lord, Lord Lloyd of Berwick, who is the Master of the Salters’ Company.) “I have to ask you to move,” he says. When I tell him he needs a court order to get us to move, I thought he was going to burst out laughing. Instead, he returns with two City of London police officers.

One of the officers gets my attention with his foot and I know immediately that we are onto another level. According to the two of them, they don’t need a court order to remove us from the porch, and neither do they need to arrest me if I refuse to move. Under the law, they say, police are entitled to remove us and our belongings with reasonable force. If we move back in tonight, they say, police will return and move us by force – and throughout the night if they have to. In their opinion, it is in our best interests to find another place, even if that means that I am at greater risk of being assaulted.

So it seems that when the June 2008 issue of The Pavement, a free magazine for London’s homeless, reported that the local council needed a court order to get a rough sleeper moved on from a multi-storey Hampshire car park, they forgot to mention the council could have saved taxpayers’ money by having police throw him and this belongings onto the street (see blog here). Another example, of course, is squatters: the Telegraph reported yesterday that squatters living in a house owned by Labour MPs Alan and Ann Keen, who are facing a formal sleaze probe over their expenses, have been ordered to leave by a judge.

Anyway, I am hoping tonight the application of “reasonable force” will not include me getting tasered. This is shocking:

British Police Taser and Beat Man

Nottingham police use excessive force on a man, he had his legs kicked from under him and was tasered three times, handcuffed then punched three times in the face by one officer.

Just in case, this afternoon Declan emailed City of London Police Commissioner Michael Bowron (copied to Lord Lloyd of Berwick):

Subject: My complaint against the City of London Police

Dear Commissioner Bowron,

I refer to your email of 18 June signed by Darren Pulman, Staff Officer to the Commissioner, acknowledging receipt of my email of complaint to you of 17 June regarding stop at Salters' Hall: CAD 10903 of 16/06/09. My subsequent email of complaint to you of 18 June, having been further issued on the morning of 18 June with false records (386s) in relation to said stop, was acknowledged on 26 June as received by the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

As you are aware, my wife and I are of no fixed abode and have been sleeping rough in the City of London since 3 November 2006, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) having terminated my joint claim JSA on 27 September 2006 because I did not sign on for Jobseeker's Allowance two days before I was actually due to do so on 29 September. (We slept in a porch in the City of London until a trellis gate was installed on 4 September 2008; as from 12 September, we have been sleeping at Salters’ Hall, 4 Fore Street, London EC2Y 5DE.)

I wish to confirm that at 11.00pm last night PC 300CP and PC 360CP from Bishopsgate police station insisted in the company of the Beadle to the Salters’ Company, Mr. Michel Goeller, that my wife and I move out of our sleeping pitch – a porch of the Salters’ Hall located on (a derelict) St. Alphage Highwalk. When my wife requested the court order to which she is entitled, PC 300CP informed her that he was not in need of any such order and that she had to vacate the porch immediately. My wife refused as a result of having nowhere else to sleep, the upshot being that PC 360CP issued us with two 386s for the stop, PC 300CP informing my wife in the presence of Mr. Goeller that if she returned to the porch tonight City of London police would use “reasonable force” to move her and her belongings away – and throughout the night if she does not desist from returning.

I beg to again point out that my wife and I do not wish to be sleeping in the street. We have been denied benefits by the DWP because I did not sign up early enough – even though we were both doing so in a timely fashion. And I have exhausted the appeals process: my case has been dismissed by the High Court (Judicial Review), Court of Appeal and European Court of Human Rights, despite that I was denied the internal appeal process by procedural impropriety on the part of the DWP. We have informed the homeless organisation Broadway that all we require is a reinstatement of my joint claim JSA and the payment of a deposit on a flat, a small fraction of what we are entitled to in accumulated arrears. That we are dealing with such an obvious "mistake" (however deliberate), I cannot imagine what is motivating the officials to deny us benefits to which we are entitled.

I am copying this email to former Law Lord, Lord Lloyd of Berwick, the Master of the Salters’ Company c/o the Clerk to the Salters’ Company at clerk@salters.co.uk.

Please would you acknowledge receipt.

Yours sincerely
Declan Heavey

cc Lord Lloyd of Berwick, Master of the Salters’ Company

Police ‘No sleeping’ sign in the place we sleep, Salters

As I said in yesterday’s blog “Salters’ Company threatens us with ‘the authorities’”, the night before last we arrived to our sleeping pitch – a porch of the Salters’ Hall located on a derelict highwalk (see blog of 5 June “Salters back in the spotlight” for two Google map photos of the pitch) – to find three notices on official headed paper stating that the Salters' Company would report to “the authorities” anyone found sleeping in the porch. Last night there were two additional notices, this time on official notepaper from the City of London Police, stating as follows:

PRIVATE PROPERTY

Please do not sleep in this area or leave your personal belongings.

In the previous blog I mentioned that The Salters’ Company, one of the Twelve Great City Livery Companies, describes itself as a company very largely devoted to charity; it also plays an important part in the system of local government in the City of London, reflecting its historical roots. I also explain that under the Human Rights Act 1998 people have the right to sleep in the streets and that Salters need a court order to move us on. (I also publish a picture of Lord Lloyd of Berwick, the Master of the Salters’ Company, and a former law lord.)

Nonetheless, I am actually prepared to break any court order that would put me back on street level: within two weeks of sleeping in the street somebody sat on the right hand side of my face (see here); I was grabbed by the ankles while I was asleep and dragged out of the two-step porch and down the pavement two or three metres, then a few hours later I was kicked in the back (see here); a guy repeatedly kicked me in the chest and shoulders as his mates stood by (see here); and I was urinated on (see here). I would actually feel safer in a cell!

In Thursday’s blog “Still no resolution!”, I wrote that there wouldn’t be any need for a cell if the homeless organisation Broadway got a letter from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) acknowledging an error in respect to the payment of our benefits and committing to the payment of a deposit on a flat, a small fraction of what we are entitled to in accumulated arrears - we came to England in 2003 and for two years attempted to get NAC up and running; we went on benefits in July 2005; the DWP terminated our benefits on 27 September 2006 because Declan did not “sign on” two days before he was due to do so on 29 September. Broadway, of course, never seem happy about the task, I assume because we never succeeded in getting this from the High Court (see here), Court of Appeal (see here) or the European Court of Human Rights (see here).

What would motivate the DWP to deny us benefits to which we are entitled? Well, there can be no explanation other than to run us back to Ireland, where an organisation like NAC wouldn’t stand a chance of seeing the light of day. In fact, Ireland is currently shuffling through a law creating penalties for blasphemy, an offence that has never properly existed in the Irish state. The proposed law states that a person who publishes or utters blasphemous matter shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable upon conviction on indictment to a fine not exceeding €100,000. Irish writer Michael Nugent comments in the Index on Censorship that the law “treats religious beliefs as more valuable than secular beliefs and scientific thinking”.

I uploaded this video featuring Nugent, titled “Blasphemy Is Not A Crime Part 1” (parts 2 to 9 can be accesses here), to a Guardian article “Who asked for Ireland's blasphemy law?”, which I posted to the NAC website yesterday .

Salters’ Company threatens us with ‘the authorities’

As I said in the previous blog “Still no resolution!”, on Tuesday and Wednesday night we arrived to our sleeping pitch – a porch of the Salters’ Hall located on a derelict highwalk (see blog of 5 June “Salters back in the spotlight” for two Google map photos of the pitch) – to find petrol or diesel spilt about the porch floor. Last night it was even better: three notices on official company headed paper - one sellotaped to a large wooden free standing stand - stating as follows:

TO ALL THOSE WHO MAY BE CONCERNED

Please be aware that the Salters’ Company has NOT authorized anyone to use or sleep in the doorways or stairwells of the Salters’ Hall and anyone found to be disregarding this notice will be reported to the authorities.

The Salters’ Company, one of the Twelve Great City Livery Companies, has its origins in the City of London of the fourteenth century, and describes itself as a company very largely devoted to charity; it also plays an important part in the system of local government in the City of London, reflecting its historical roots. In fact, communications started out cordial between us: the company not only fund raises for science education (Declan’s petition to the United Nations on research cloning of embryos and stem cells has been signed by 591 scientists and academics, including 24 Nobel laureates, and despite many months of serious spamming), but runs a project for the homeless.

Anyway, as I was writing the notice on paper, I joked to Declan that I half-expected to be woken up in the middle of the night by somebody on a horse wearing a big curly wig with ‘the authorities’ behind him to make sure we would be taken away in chains! I think Salters’ Company needs to catch up with realities of the 21st century. In the June 2008 issue of The Pavement, a free magazine for London’s homeless, there is a story under the title “Rough sleeper evicted from car park”. It points out that the local council needed a court order to get a rough sleeper moved on from a multi-storey Hampshire car park.

We have been sleeping in this porch since January. (For some months prior to this, we slept about twenty paces from the front entrance of the same building, down some twelve steps. Prior to that, we slept for almost two years in a porch at street level until a trellis gate was installed … on Declan’s birthday!) An article in the April 2007 issue of the Police Review magazine, titled “Rough Sleepers”, points out that “people have the right to sleep in the streets if they want to”, and that in this respect police “need to comply with the Human Rights Act 1998”. Of course, we don’t want to be sleeping in the streets but have no choice, having been put to the street by the Department for Work and Pension (see previous blog).

Curiously, the May 2008 issue of The Pavement says that shopkeepers in the big tourist area of the Strand (Westminster area) are abandoning City of London Police “No sleeping” signs on their shop fronts, claiming that they are no longer effective and that they prefer to call the police if they have any problems or incidents. Perhaps it is worth noting here that our sleeping pitch is located on a derelict highwalk, we bed down around 10.00pm, get up about 6.00am, and don’t drink or smoke.

Anyway, I am all up for another arrest tonight; exhibits for the solicitor appointed to me all a go. A court order didn’t mean squat to the City of London Police last September when four officers arrested me because I refused to move on as a result of having nowhere else to sleep (see blog of 11 September “I am arrested for ‘breach of the peace’”; I was later released because I “wasn’t breaching the peace anymore”). I doubt that they are any more fazed by the Human Rights Act 1998 than they were then. Could be an interesting night!

Salters' Prizegiving Ceremony. This photograph shows Rachel Cooke being presented with an award by Lord Lloyd of Berwick, the Master of the Salters' Company. The ceremony was held at the Salters' Hall on Thursday, 7 December 2000.

Police close Declan's assault case

Unbelievable! Today Declan heard back from Detective Sergeant Andrew Gattase of Limehouse police station, who was dealing with the assault on him in our local Internet cafe on Saturday night. DS Gattase refers to some incident that never occurred (“the contact made on the stairwell with your shoulder”; at total variance with what Declan actually reported, see previous blog), which he says he has deemed to be an accident and that he has closed the report. In this email to Declan, DS Gattase actually verifies that Declan was the victim of a full blown assault (he says: “In order to be an assault it must be intentional or reckless application of force more than what is normal or reasonable”):

Subject: Crime Ref. 4215223/09

In reply, to your questions raised.

Unfortunately the incident focused upon, I must reiterate and sympathise with your frustrations however based on the evidence documented within the CRIS report, and the contact made on the stairwell with your shoulder, I have had to evaluate and assess whether there would be sufficient evidence to show what occurred amounted to an assault and not a mere accident.

I must stress this is based on the evidential test.

Having read the report made and looked into the scenario, I have evaluated there would be insufficient evidence to show this was an assault. In order to be an assault it must be intentional or reckless application of force more than what is normal or reasonable. I understand your frustrations but I do not feel there is sufficient evidence to show the incident did in fact amount to an assault.

This does not mean I am believing once party over the other, but have based my decision solely on the evidence and the scenario outlined.

As for the words apparently used this was not part of the same incident as that happened some time in the past. Again this was not reported to anybody at the time.

I suggest if this is happening, possibly you think about notifying the owners of the internet cvafe or using an alternative premises.

Being in the company of the suspect is not an offence, it is what goes on and if criminal offences are committed then you have the right to report them to police.

In relation to your report filed it will remain on file in the event of escalation and can be re-visited to assist future offences but at this stage I respectfully submit there is insufficient evidence to proceed and I have closed the report.

Yours Sincerely
DS Andrew GATTASE

DS Gattase suggests that perhaps we should use an “alternative premises”. As I stated in the previous blog, the internet café in question is the only place around in which I can install a program so I can upload pages to the NAC website – I should be able to log in to my SiteGround account with my username and password but I am blocked from doing so (see blog of 9 May “SiteGround confirms our website has been hacked”). This is the email from Declan yesterday that the detective sergeant replied to:

Subject: Crime Ref. 4215223/09

Dear DS Gattase,

I have yet to be summoned by you to give a statement in this case, and I have no way of knowing if this is because the case has been struck out by you for some reason. However, I once again find myself in the company of the suspect at Telecall Internet cafe - for the second time today and the third time since being assaulted by him on the premises on Saturday, 27 June. I do appreciate that I have asked you this question on the two previous occasions I have found myself in the company of the suspect in this Internet cafe, but, without having received a reply and not having had my statement taken, could you please advise if I can phone 999 immediately to have him arrested on the premises?

Yours sincerely,
Declan Heavey

I am still in disbelief.

Declan assaulted in the local internet café

Yesterday evening Declan once again took a trip to a police station, this time to Limehouse PS which is the nearest one to our local internet café off Whitechapel Road.

He went in the middle of one of these summer storms and had to wait for almost an hour to talk with an officer, but he wasn’t deterred: the internet café in question is the only place around in which I can install a program so I can upload pages to the NAC website – I should be able to log in to my SiteGround account with my username and password but I am blocked from doing so (see blog of 9 May “SiteGround confirms our website has been hacked”).

This particular bloke is well known to Declan, and we are pretty sure from his drinking on computers that he is a resident of the Salvation Army’s Booth House hostel for homeless men, located around the corner from the internet café (and across the road from the huge East London Mosque and London Muslim Centre). Declan has also submitted a written complaint to the manager of the internet café against the guy for racially aggravated harassment just hours before we had a major run in with police at our sleeping pitch (see blog of 17 June “More police intimidation at the place we sleep, Salters”; for two Google map photos of where we sleep see blog of 5 June “Salters back in the spotlight”).

As Declan told the officer who took the report, he is sick and tired of homeless who seem to think that when it comes to us they have some sort of carte blanche to say and do pretty much what they like: Declan has been assaulted in the middle of the night in a winter shelter run by the West London Churches, crime reference no. 6002035-07 (see here); we have both been assaulted in the Methodist Church-run Whitechapel Mission (see here for Declan, crime reference no. 4204886/07; and for me here, crime reference no. 4217341/07); we have been robbed of all our money and documents in the Catholic Sisters of Mercy Dellow Day Centre, crime reference no. 4215697/08 (see here); Declan has been further assaulted in the Catholic Manna Day Centre, crime reference no. 3021917/08 (see here) and the Dellow Centre, crime reference no. 4204029/09 (see here); and Declan has even had a homeless arrested for a threat to kill, crime reference no. 7221/07 (see blog of 8 September 2007 “Application to the European Court of Human Rights” para. 30).

Not one of these cases has resulted in a prosecution. And it’s not just because there never seems to be any witnesses. The robbery of all our money and documents, for example, was struck out due to the police being unable to obtain any CCTV footage whatsoever from the Dellow Centre (see here). Then there is Declan’s case against one homeless man, against whom he has three crime reference numbers, which was struck out due to the police being unable to obtain the identity of the suspect from the Dellow Centre even though they do know his details (see here). In fact, since 10 April last year, Declan has been washing in the street as a result of harassment and intimidation by homeless people in the Dellow Centre and Manna Centre, the only two day centres available to us since our barring two years ago from the Whitechapel Mission due to concerns about our safety (see blog of 14 May of “Letter to Archbishop Vincent Nichols”).

So now Declan has yet another crime reference number to add to his bourgeoning collection, 4215223/09 for common assault (caught on CCTV). This is the chronology Declan handed to police last night:

CHRONOLOGY

(1) 16 JUNE | 4.30-4.45pm the customer of the Internet cafe ("the customer") is continually abusive towards me, seemingly drunk; I am the only other person on an upstairs computer and regrettably did not write down actual words shouted across the floor at me. | 4.45pm I report the abuse to a member of staff downstairs who then requests of the customer where he sits that he quieten down. | 4.45-4.50pm the customer continues his tirade in abusive outbursts ("you have no fuckin' manners", "you are an Irish grass", etc). I do not know how the customer knows that I am Irish, but I suspect he is homeless and resides in the Salvation Army Booth House, a hostel for homeless people across the road. | 4.50-5.10pm I sit downstairs waiting for a computer to come free - impossible to work upstairs in the sole company of the customer. The member of staff requests from me a written complaint that he will present to the Manager. The member of staff informs me that the customer has already been barred for drunken behaviour, but was readmitted by the manager following his plea and promise of good behaviour. | 5.10pm I leave the internet cafe, no computer having come free. I read to the member of staff my "Chronology (1)" before leaving and inform him that I will drop a copy to him on my return. | 6.00pm I hand the member of staff "Chronology (1)", as requested.

(2) 27 JUNE | 5.05pm the customer vacates his computer at the same time as I make my way downstairs to pay for an extra three hours. As soon as I turn to go back upstairs, he proceeds to come down. Sensing trouble, I wait for him to pass. Rather than walk straight out the door or around me to the counter (which would have been no trouble at all), he comes straight at me, hitting my right shoulder with his right shoulder to move me out of the way of his chosen direct route to the counter. He makes some quick comment to the member of staff and leaves. I comment to the member of staff that this guy has just assaulted me with a shoulder charge, to which the member of staff replies that he has no idea what this guy's problem is. | 5.30pm I hand the member of staff a copy of "Chronology (2)", as previously requested. I ask for the address of the local police station, to drop them a copy of this chronology.

[5.45pm on leaving the internet café, the member of staff presents me with a business card for Limehouse police station, and confirms that the assault would have been caught on CCTV.]