St Mungo's: Draft paragraphs 36-38 of Declan's updated complaint to the United Nations under Article 19 (freedom of expression) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. We have never been able to get the support we need from this Mayor of London-commissioned charity
From paragraph 36 below:
"This obscene disregard for your rights seems to continue unresolved!"
-Don Collins, President of ISAF, an NGO dedicated to helping women
Our Church and State website has no less than 57 Nobel Laureates on it; for details, see this blog's sidebar under "Church and State" (updated today).
Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms formulates what is the core of free speech. "Everyone has the right to freedom of expression." In an important interpretation of this article, the European Court of Human Rights in Handyside v. UK (1976) indicated that this "freedom of expression" should be construed as follows. It "is applicable not only to 'information' or 'ideas' that are favourably received, or regarded as inoffensive, or as a matter of indifference, but also to those that offend, shock or disturb the State or any sector of the population". Such are the demands of that pluralism, tolerance and broadmindedness without which there is no "democratic society" (see Cliteur, 2010).
This is exactly the kind of action you constantly need to take!!
-Don Collins, President, ISAF, Washington DC
19 June 2019
Dear Sofia,
Thank you for your email. [Name withheld] might want you to complete the attached volunteer reference form. You forgot to reply to their question about my "honesty, reliability and temperament".
Best regards,
Maria [Lola] Heavey
20 June: St Mungo's: Now I can't even get a satisfactory reference from this Mayor of London-commissioned charity after three years of voluntary work. Declan is updating his threat-to-life complaint to the United Nations last year
Declan and I are housed in a flat that is part of the Mayor of London's Rough Sleepers Initiative. Alongside our tenancy is access to the Mayor's Tenancy Sustainment Team (TST) at St Mungo's. It has been acknowledged by the Greater London Authority in court papers that both Declan and I can live independently – we do not have addictions or mental illness or behavioural issues. Our needs are solely related to the harassment, discrimination and intimidation we routinely face. We have never been able to get the basic and reliable support we need from St Mungo's, but we have been battling them from pillar to post for over a year, culminating in a reference for me last week that raises more questions than it answers. On 5 June I posted St Mungo's: Declan's email to CEO Howard Sinclair of this Mayor of London-commissioned charity further to pre-action letter dated 26 April 2019 (WITH UPDATE 20/6/2019). The update to the post raises serious questions relating to transparency and trust when it comes to this charity, not me. Declan will put the record straight in his forthcoming updated complaint to the United Nations under Article 19 (freedom of expression) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. These are his draft paragraphs 36-38 regarding St Mungo's:
In re St Mungo's
Draft paragraphs 36-38 of Declan's updated complaint to the United Nations under Article 19 (freedom of expression) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
36. The Applicant and his wife's tenancy agreement was renewed like-for-like for the second time last year, but only when court proceedings against St. Mungo's were imminent two months after the Applicant complained that the decision not to reissue another tenancy for two former rough sleepers with support needs amounted to a type of harassment and a death threat. Since then, the Applicant has been battling St. Mungo's from pillar to post to stabilise his and his wife's tenancy (see Annex 16, pp. 39-41). First it was problems with inaccurate case notes, which got more serious in August 2018 when the Applicant discovered that notes St. Mungo's assured District Judge Avent the year previous had been rectified by them were in fact being held under the Applicant's wife's name. Last year the Applicant also had to battle St. Mungo's for his own Tenancy Sustainment Team (TST) caseworker and to stave off enforced joint visits. This year the Applicant has already had to twice battle St. Mungo's to have removed outrageous notes that were inputted into their system on both occasions without his knowledge or consent. On 13 June 2019, the Applicant's professional referee observed: "This obscene disregard for your rights seems to continue unresolved!" The following week, the Applicant's wife received from her TST caseworker a completed volunteer reference form that had been sent to a hospice for the dying. This caseworker left blank a question relating to the Applicant's wife's "honesty, reliability and temperament", and has not sought to rectify the error and misleading impression.
37. On 8 April 2019, the Applicant complained to Mayor of London Sadiq Khan about a blockade across London on his volunteer applications notwithstanding his support from the Mayor-commissioned St. Mungo's TST. For over two years, the Applicant fought without success to secure a long-term volunteer position through Newham Council's Active Newham. He had applied to Active Newham in 2016 to befriend an older or isolated person in his community. The Applicant is a former physical education teacher who has taught in Glenstal Abbey, one of Ireland's top schools. He is cleared by the police to work with children and adults, and has a high-quality written recommendation from his professional referee (see Annex 17, p. 42). Last year the Applicant became an accredited UK Athletics assistant coach to further enhance his volunteering applications. Nonetheless, the supporting emails that St. Mungo's TST has written to Active Newham, Bromley by Bow Centre, Sense and KEEN London have either been ignored or overlooked by the recipients. The case notes most recently rectified by St. Mungo's TST relate to his TST caseworker's supporting emails to learning disability organisations for voluntary roles that require no specialist skills or experience. For example, in the case of KEEN London, the Applicant's TST caseworker's supporting email of 15 March 2019 and follow-up phone calls on 22 March and 2 April 2019 have in effect all been ignored. In an image attachment of notes that the Applicant received on 1 May 2019, the agreed-upon notes relating to this TST caseworker's two phone calls to KEEN London were omitted from the record. The Applicant has had no contact with KEEN London. It cannot, therefore, be suggested that he compromised this support.
38. The Applicant and his wife have never been able to get the basic and reliable support they need from St. Mungo's TST. Newham Council has twice suspended the Applicant's Housing Benefit following erroneous notifications from the Department for Work and Pensions that he and his wife had vacated. The Applicant has even had difficulties securing their address from misconduct by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs staff, and despite several high-level complaints related in part to an unauthorised update to their address. It has been acknowledged by the GLA in court papers that the Applicant and his wife can live independently – they do not have addictions or mental illness or behavioural issues. Their needs are solely related to the harassment, discrimination, intimidation and victimisation they routinely face. They are extremely concerned that next year they will be forced to challenge a destabilising periodic tenancy, as opposed to fixed term, in a court action against St. Mungo's for dereliction of duty and violation of their human rights. This notwithstanding that it has become abundantly clear that they have been and continue to be deprived of satisfactory tenancy sustainment support. As the matter stands, therefore, there is a threat to life and wellbeing in this case considering the following range of factors as applicable:
(i) The Applicant has a history of respiratory diseases such as pneumonia, bronchitis and other lung infections. Both he and his wife doubt he has the respiratory health to survive even another year or two on the streets. The Applicant is in his late fifties (58), and during their first period of homelessness, he was hospitalised with pneumonia in December 2006 and with a viral infection in October 2007. Near the end of their second period of homelessness, in April 2014, he was diagnosed with asthma as well as a chest infection (see para. 31 above).
(ii) Back on the streets the Applicant and his wife will be restricted to sleeping on night buses in all sorts of weather (money permitting), notwithstanding the Applicant's asthma and now increased susceptibility to respiratory disease. They were forced into this predicament prior to coming off the streets the second time because of an excessive use of force by police officers to move them out of where they were sleeping. This included the Applicant's wife being threatened with arrest on the trumped-up charge of assaulting a police officer (see paras. 31-32 above). Since the subsequent escalation of the migration crisis in Europe, the police have been given more powers to crack down on rough sleeping and need less to resort to unlawful measures.
(iii) Both the Applicant and his wife have serious concerns about the health care the Applicant has or has not received over the years from National Health Service (NHS) England. Prior to his hospitalisation with pneumonia in 2006, he lost consciousness while vomiting and could have easily died had his wife not been with him. Chelsea and Westminster Hospital discharged him 42 hours after admission whilst still unwell (into the shivering cold and dense fog), placing him at risk. The Applicant most recently complained to NHS England about emergency dental treatment he received in January 2018. He complained that he had a nerve removed from a tooth but was only prescribed antibiotics after the tooth had erupted within days of the treatment, the tooth itself being extracted a month to the day after the nerve had been removed. NHS England did not uphold any aspect of the Applicant's complaint.
Draft paragraphs 36-38 of Declan's updated complaint to the United Nations under Article 19 (freedom of expression) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
36. The Applicant and his wife's tenancy agreement was renewed like-for-like for the second time last year, but only when court proceedings against St. Mungo's were imminent two months after the Applicant complained that the decision not to reissue another tenancy for two former rough sleepers with support needs amounted to a type of harassment and a death threat. Since then, the Applicant has been battling St. Mungo's from pillar to post to stabilise his and his wife's tenancy (see Annex 16, pp. 39-41). First it was problems with inaccurate case notes, which got more serious in August 2018 when the Applicant discovered that notes St. Mungo's assured District Judge Avent the year previous had been rectified by them were in fact being held under the Applicant's wife's name. Last year the Applicant also had to battle St. Mungo's for his own Tenancy Sustainment Team (TST) caseworker and to stave off enforced joint visits. This year the Applicant has already had to twice battle St. Mungo's to have removed outrageous notes that were inputted into their system on both occasions without his knowledge or consent. On 13 June 2019, the Applicant's professional referee observed: "This obscene disregard for your rights seems to continue unresolved!" The following week, the Applicant's wife received from her TST caseworker a completed volunteer reference form that had been sent to a hospice for the dying. This caseworker left blank a question relating to the Applicant's wife's "honesty, reliability and temperament", and has not sought to rectify the error and misleading impression.
37. On 8 April 2019, the Applicant complained to Mayor of London Sadiq Khan about a blockade across London on his volunteer applications notwithstanding his support from the Mayor-commissioned St. Mungo's TST. For over two years, the Applicant fought without success to secure a long-term volunteer position through Newham Council's Active Newham. He had applied to Active Newham in 2016 to befriend an older or isolated person in his community. The Applicant is a former physical education teacher who has taught in Glenstal Abbey, one of Ireland's top schools. He is cleared by the police to work with children and adults, and has a high-quality written recommendation from his professional referee (see Annex 17, p. 42). Last year the Applicant became an accredited UK Athletics assistant coach to further enhance his volunteering applications. Nonetheless, the supporting emails that St. Mungo's TST has written to Active Newham, Bromley by Bow Centre, Sense and KEEN London have either been ignored or overlooked by the recipients. The case notes most recently rectified by St. Mungo's TST relate to his TST caseworker's supporting emails to learning disability organisations for voluntary roles that require no specialist skills or experience. For example, in the case of KEEN London, the Applicant's TST caseworker's supporting email of 15 March 2019 and follow-up phone calls on 22 March and 2 April 2019 have in effect all been ignored. In an image attachment of notes that the Applicant received on 1 May 2019, the agreed-upon notes relating to this TST caseworker's two phone calls to KEEN London were omitted from the record. The Applicant has had no contact with KEEN London. It cannot, therefore, be suggested that he compromised this support.
38. The Applicant and his wife have never been able to get the basic and reliable support they need from St. Mungo's TST. Newham Council has twice suspended the Applicant's Housing Benefit following erroneous notifications from the Department for Work and Pensions that he and his wife had vacated. The Applicant has even had difficulties securing their address from misconduct by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs staff, and despite several high-level complaints related in part to an unauthorised update to their address. It has been acknowledged by the GLA in court papers that the Applicant and his wife can live independently – they do not have addictions or mental illness or behavioural issues. Their needs are solely related to the harassment, discrimination, intimidation and victimisation they routinely face. They are extremely concerned that next year they will be forced to challenge a destabilising periodic tenancy, as opposed to fixed term, in a court action against St. Mungo's for dereliction of duty and violation of their human rights. This notwithstanding that it has become abundantly clear that they have been and continue to be deprived of satisfactory tenancy sustainment support. As the matter stands, therefore, there is a threat to life and wellbeing in this case considering the following range of factors as applicable:
(i) The Applicant has a history of respiratory diseases such as pneumonia, bronchitis and other lung infections. Both he and his wife doubt he has the respiratory health to survive even another year or two on the streets. The Applicant is in his late fifties (58), and during their first period of homelessness, he was hospitalised with pneumonia in December 2006 and with a viral infection in October 2007. Near the end of their second period of homelessness, in April 2014, he was diagnosed with asthma as well as a chest infection (see para. 31 above).
(ii) Back on the streets the Applicant and his wife will be restricted to sleeping on night buses in all sorts of weather (money permitting), notwithstanding the Applicant's asthma and now increased susceptibility to respiratory disease. They were forced into this predicament prior to coming off the streets the second time because of an excessive use of force by police officers to move them out of where they were sleeping. This included the Applicant's wife being threatened with arrest on the trumped-up charge of assaulting a police officer (see paras. 31-32 above). Since the subsequent escalation of the migration crisis in Europe, the police have been given more powers to crack down on rough sleeping and need less to resort to unlawful measures.
(iii) Both the Applicant and his wife have serious concerns about the health care the Applicant has or has not received over the years from National Health Service (NHS) England. Prior to his hospitalisation with pneumonia in 2006, he lost consciousness while vomiting and could have easily died had his wife not been with him. Chelsea and Westminster Hospital discharged him 42 hours after admission whilst still unwell (into the shivering cold and dense fog), placing him at risk. The Applicant most recently complained to NHS England about emergency dental treatment he received in January 2018. He complained that he had a nerve removed from a tooth but was only prescribed antibiotics after the tooth had erupted within days of the treatment, the tooth itself being extracted a month to the day after the nerve had been removed. NHS England did not uphold any aspect of the Applicant's complaint.
Last year St Mungo's made the international press for all the wrong reasons. They are accused of helping to get rough sleepers arrested and deported. When the story came through my Russia Today (RT) news feed, it left Declan gob smacked. He subsequently spoke with Diane Taylor, the journalist covering the story for the Guardian.
EU freedom for rough sleepers infringed - shock horror. https://t.co/RuJKrSEiTm
— Andrew Martin (@devonprof) May 14, 2018
From My Picks:
19 June: Greater London Authority: The Mayor of London's Rough Sleeping Team at City Hall breach Declan's rights by contacting St Mungo's on his behalf without his authority or consent (WITH UPDATE 20/6/2019)
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan
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