Excerpt from our small claims court case against St Mungo's under the Data Protection Act 1998: Some history with this charity that runs the Mayor of London's Clearing House service
This process would make George Orwell squirm.
Keep going.
- A friend in Washington DC
Is an agreement with the Mayor of London's Clearing House service, operated for the Mayor by St Mungo's, worth the paper it is written on? Last February, after a number of court actions (see below), it was finally agreed with St Mungo's CEO Howard Sinclair and Clearing House Manager Kate Moon that going forward support to sustain our supported housing tenancy would be non-coercive so our tenancy agreement could be renewed by our housing association landlord next month. However, the Clearing House has failed to update its records with this information in breach of principle 4 of the Data Protection Act 1998 which states that "personal data shall be accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date"; thereby threatening the renewal of our tenancy. Declan brought his Letter Before Claim to the attention of Mayor of London Boris Johnson last week but we remain convinced that he will be filing this case in the Central London County Court before the end of next week.
Paragraph 16 of Declan's Skeleton Argument for the County Court at Central London (Data Protection) re the attempted sabotage of the renewal of our supported housing tenancy by the Mayor of London's Clearing House service, operated for the Mayor by St Mungo's
16. The Claimant and his wife believe that the recent decision of St Mungo's to want to discuss "timescales" for the opening of their support case on the Clearing House system is no more than an attempt to sabotage the renewal of their two-year supported housing tenancy in May 2016. To pick out two particular historical examples fuelling this belief that involve a High Court action and the threat of an immediate small claims court action:
(i) During the second period the Claimant and his wife spent on the street between April 2013 and May 2014, St Mungo’s (then called Broadway) denied them support to access the private rented sector despite the fact that they had the funds to do so. On 29 August 2013, the Claimant filed a claim in the High Court for judicial review against Commissioner of Police for the City of London Adrian Leppard and Home Secretary Theresa May, arguing that it was unreasonable for the Police Force to refuse to ask the charity to help them break an alleged accommodation blockade whilst at the same time threatening them with hosings by street cleaners. Deputy High Court Judge Bidder ruled: "The refusal of the First Defendant to ask the charity 'Broadway' to engage or help the Claimant and his wife with their welfare or accommodation is not arguably unreasonable. It is not its job to intervene in any disagreement between a charity and those seeking that charity's help."
(ii) On 8 May 2015 District Judge Brooks sitting at the County Court at Central London declared that the Single Homeless Project had "acted unlawfully in holding or uploading information about the Claimant relating to his debts, his employment status and an alleged mental health condition", and ordered the charity to pay damages to him for distress of £750. However, three months later, following a subject access request, the Claimant discovered that St Mungo's had failed to comply with the court order which also requested that it remove from its website any information about him and his wife "in relation to debts that they have, their employment status and to specifically remove the word 'grandiose'." It took St Mungo’s a further six months, and the threat on 11 February 2016 of an immediate small claims court action, to finally remove all inaccurate financial and other information held against the Claimant and his wife on the Clearing House system.
16. The Claimant and his wife believe that the recent decision of St Mungo's to want to discuss "timescales" for the opening of their support case on the Clearing House system is no more than an attempt to sabotage the renewal of their two-year supported housing tenancy in May 2016. To pick out two particular historical examples fuelling this belief that involve a High Court action and the threat of an immediate small claims court action:
(i) During the second period the Claimant and his wife spent on the street between April 2013 and May 2014, St Mungo’s (then called Broadway) denied them support to access the private rented sector despite the fact that they had the funds to do so. On 29 August 2013, the Claimant filed a claim in the High Court for judicial review against Commissioner of Police for the City of London Adrian Leppard and Home Secretary Theresa May, arguing that it was unreasonable for the Police Force to refuse to ask the charity to help them break an alleged accommodation blockade whilst at the same time threatening them with hosings by street cleaners. Deputy High Court Judge Bidder ruled: "The refusal of the First Defendant to ask the charity 'Broadway' to engage or help the Claimant and his wife with their welfare or accommodation is not arguably unreasonable. It is not its job to intervene in any disagreement between a charity and those seeking that charity's help."
(ii) On 8 May 2015 District Judge Brooks sitting at the County Court at Central London declared that the Single Homeless Project had "acted unlawfully in holding or uploading information about the Claimant relating to his debts, his employment status and an alleged mental health condition", and ordered the charity to pay damages to him for distress of £750. However, three months later, following a subject access request, the Claimant discovered that St Mungo's had failed to comply with the court order which also requested that it remove from its website any information about him and his wife "in relation to debts that they have, their employment status and to specifically remove the word 'grandiose'." It took St Mungo’s a further six months, and the threat on 11 February 2016 of an immediate small claims court action, to finally remove all inaccurate financial and other information held against the Claimant and his wife on the Clearing House system.
HEAVEY v. THE UNITED KINGDOM
COMMUNICATION SUBMITTED FOR CONSIDERATION UNDER
THE FIRST OPTIONAL PROTOCOL TO THE
INTERNATIONAL COVENANT ON CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS
We have brought the following four actions to court orders just to keep a roof over our heads for the past two years:
Court action 1: High Court v Greater London Authority (1 September 2014), para 37(iii), p 13.
Court action 2: County Court v Single Homeless Project (12 September 2014), para 37(iii), p 13.
Court action 3: High Court v Greater London Authority (18 June 2015), para 36, p 12.
Court action 4: County Court v Greater London Authority (10 September 2015), para 36, p 12.
Related blog post 25 March 2016: "Threat to life: Updated complaint to the United Nations"
***
We were evicted from our previous flat on 14 March 2013 because according to our then live-in landlady's ex-husband, Dr Nigel McKenzie, a consultant psychiatrist in Highgate Mental Health Centre, our flat was needed for somebody with a mental illness. As Declan states in paragraph 8 of his complaint to the UN above, former MI5 whistleblower David Shayler also lived with human rights activist Belinda McKenzie in the same political 'safe house' for a couple of years until 2007. According to BBC Panorama, Shayler "caused the biggest crisis of official secrecy since the spy catcher affair"; he was jailed for seven weeks in 2002 for breaking the Official Secrets Act. It is indeed unfortunate that Shayler declared himself the Messiah in 2007, became a squatter, and was subsequently ridiculed in the press for changing his name to Delores Kane. A New Statesman article published in September 2006 featuring Shayler and Belinda gives no indication that Shayler believed he was the Messiah at that time; whilst a Daily Mail interview with him the following year reveals he believed himself to be Jesus by June 2007. He has never regained his normal self.
"The MI5 Messiah: Why David Shayler believes he's the son of God" (15 August 2007) https://t.co/nTqlqxonnS
— Church and State (@ChurchAndStateN) August 20, 2021
"Call me Delores, says MI5 whistleblower David Shayler" (16 July 2009) https://t.co/tu7yvdh2ko pic.twitter.com/Jl7HsIvUyu
"Cross-dressing MI5 whistleblower David Shayler is evicted from farmhouse" (20 August 2009) https://t.co/HuegWpZrbB pic.twitter.com/FlAMSfVYBb
— Church and State (@ChurchAndStateN) August 20, 2021
The Esquire article below* is mentioned in a Guardian article dated 27 March 2012. It is an eye-opener, highlighting the monitoring and surveillance that Shayler had to live with back in 2000, and the contradictory briefings and slanders that were coming out of the British establishment and the media. The author, Dr Eamonn O'Neill, is a lecturer in journalism at Strathclyde University.
*On 2 May 2013, Issuu removed this pdf from my Issuu account following a copyright complaint by Hearst Communications. I had uploaded the article to my Issuu account in December 2012. In March 2013, when last I checked, the article had been viewed more than 15,000 times. It can be read here.
BBC PANORAMA: The David Shayler Affair (August 1998)
Former MI5 whistleblower David Shayler "caused the biggest crisis of official secrecy since the spy catcher affair", according to BBC Panorama. He was jailed for seven weeks in 2002 for breaking the Official Secrets Act.
