Declan seriously threatened in the Catholic Manna Centre
This morning at 9.15am, while in the Catholic Manna Day Centre, Declan was seriously threatened by a homeless guy. One moment he is sitting down reading a book as he waits for a shower cubicle to come free, the next a Pole is spitting Polish into his face with a clenched fist within a foot of his left cheek – pretty menacing. Somehow Declan managed to get out from under this guy and left the washroom. He put in a complaint with a member of staff but we still left, Declan without as much as a bite to eat. I didn’t get a chance to shower either, which was unfortunate because the women’s washroom at the Catholic Sisters of Mercy Dellow Day Centre has been closed for a few weeks now.
Of course, there is nothing new about Declan being threatened by homeless, even assaulted, in these two day centres - in the previous blog “Still blocked by Facebook”, I publish a letter from Detective Paul De-Krestser stating that the Dellow Centre won’t divulge the identity of a guy, who assaulted Declan in their canteen, to police even though they know his details. Nevertheless, we remain concerned we may be barred from either or both of these centres through no fault of own (we have already been barred from the Methodist Church Whitechapel Mission due to concerns about our safety). Hence, the following email this afternoon from Declan to the head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, in his capacity as Archbishop of the Diocese of Westminster, to which the Dellow Centre of the Providence Row Charity belongs.
Subject: Providence Row Charity
His Eminence Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, Archbishop of Westminster.
Your Eminence,
I refer further to the email of acknowledgement of 25 June 2008 that I received from your Personal Secretary, Sister Damian McGrath, stating: "I am writing to acknowledge receipt of your email concerning Providence Row Charity. The Cardinal is out of the country at the present time but he will see your email on his return next week."
I wish to bring to your attention that I continue to wash in the street as a result of harassment and intimidation by homeless people in the Dellow Day Centre of the Sisters of Mercy Providence Row Charity and the Catholic Manna Day Centre (whose building is provided rent-free by the Archdiocese of Southwark), which I have been doing every weekday morning since 10 April last year. In order to avoid being barred through no fault of my own, I do not venture into the washroom in the Dellow Centre and this morning (Sunday) thought it best to leave the Manna Centre without so much as a bite to eat, having been seriously threatened by a homeless man in the men's washroom – the breakfast provided by the Dellow Centre is the only food available to my wife for the entire day Monday-Friday; I walk a two-hour round trip virtually every weekday to the Manna Centre to avail of the free lunch provided to homeless people.
I reconfirm the following since my initial email letter to you of 21 April 2008:
(1) on 28 April 2008, I submitted a written complaint to the Chief Executive of the Providence Row Charity, Ms Jo Ansell, against a homeless man for verbal abuse in the canteen of the Dellow Centre;
(2) on 16 May 2008, I reported a homeless man to the Metropolitan Police for racially aggravated harassment in the Dellow Centre's men's washroom (crime reference no. 4212667/08);
(3) 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); on 24 June 2008, 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 the Providence Row Charity;
(4) on 19 June 2008, the day after the robbery of all our money and documents in the Dellow Centre, I reported the same homeless man referred to in (2) above to the Metropolitan Police for assault while queuing for food in the Manna Centre (crime reference no. 3021917/08);
(5) on 30 June 2008, I submitted a written complaint to Ms Ansell against a homeless woman for verbal abuse in the canteen of the Dellow Centre;
(6) on 6 November 2008, I submitted a written complaint to Ms Ansell against the same homeless woman referred to in (5) above for verbal abuse from the reception desk of the Dellow Centre.
On 24 February 2009, I reported the same homeless man referred to in (2) and (4) above to the Metropolitan Police for assault in the Dellow Centre's canteen (crime reference no. 4204029/09); on 25 March 2009, I was informed in an email from Detective Paul De-Krestser of Limehouse Police Station that the case has been struck out due to the police being unable to obtain the identity of the suspect from Providence Row Charity “even though they do know his details” (see attachment). (Detective De-Krestser suggests that I call police immediately when I next make sight of the suspect so that he can be arrested.)
I should again point out that my wife and I were barred from the Methodist Church Whitechapel Mission on 18 June 2007 by the minister's wife due to concerns about our safety following an unprovoked assault on my wife by a homeless woman in the canteen of the premises (crime reference no. 4217341/07). Despite that the Whitechapel Mission's website states that homeless people are not barred or excluded and that I wrote by registered post to the minister himself and to the head of the Methodist Church in the UK, Rev Graham Carter, neither my wife nor I were readmitted.
Please would you acknowledge receipt.
Yours sincerely,
Declan Heavey