Are we back to non-stop internet cuts? We pay £900 per year to British Telecom for broadband. Three cuts in the last 1/2 hour, and our TV players have been disabled for good measure

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).

We pay British Telecom £900 per year for broadband.

In re Broadband

Paragraph 41 of Declan's updated complaint to the United Nations under Article 19 (freedom of expression) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

41. In October 2017, SiteGround's solicitors told the Applicant to remove a popular article from the Church and State website for alleged copyright infringement or the site would be disabled pending his legal challenge by counter notice. The Applicant's wife removed the article even though it had a Creative Commons licence applied to it, as do all Addicting Info articles. Her Church and State blog has been attacked in various ways over the years: links have been broken and images exchanged, deleted or temporarily removed. So too have the Applicant and his wife's laptops. For example, in December 2015, an attack on the Applicant's wife's web browsers prevented her from using her laptop to publish material on the Church and State website. She could not create a WordPress post, add images, or click on most of the platform's buttons. She had posted a video of the attack on her blog before the browsers were returned to normal functioning the following afternoon. The Applicant pays British Telecom £900 per year for Superfast Fibre 2 Unlimited broadband with an average advertised speed of 67Mbps. Nonetheless, since September 2017, the internet connection speed on either his or his wife's laptop has been reduced from anything between 1-74Mbps, frequently rendering it almost impossible to open a web page or send an email on the targeted laptop. Since 26 May 2017, their internet connection has been cut 326 recorded times lasting for as long as 3 1/4 hours at a time. And the bandwidth on their second BT YouView box is seldom sufficient for TV or Prime Video viewing irrespective of their laptop internet connection speeds. (Because of this, their TV usually operates off the TV aerial or their viewing restricted to the BBC iPlayer when all players and apps have not been disabled.) BT Executive Level Complaints has established that there is no problem with the Applicant and his wife's telephone line and has only ever been able to find fault with their own equipment. (Emphasis added.)

7 July: INTERNET CUTS: Are 45-minute Internet cuts to be the new norm? We pay British Telecom £850 per year for broadband (WITH UPDATE 25/9/2019: re 334th Internet cut since 26 May 2017)

UK Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ)

From My Picks:

24 September: DACS's attempt last week to retrieve a fee from us for copyright infringement reminds us of the last time Declan took the Mayor of London-commissioned St Mungo's to court

The Design and Artists Copyright Society (DACS) is the UK's premier rights management organisation for visual artists.

'Let me recommend an important web site churchandstate.org.uk. Operating out of London this well-designed and exciting web site covers church-state, population, climate change and other issues. Check it out.' Edd Doerr, President, Americans for Religious Liberty

http://churchandstate.org.uk/about/

St Mungo's: We cannot see how we will not be taking proceedings against this Mayor of London-commissioned charity for the second time in three years

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).

County Court at Central London, Royal Courts of Justice

Heavey v St Mungo's (2016)

Trial held in the Central London County Court, Royal Courts of Justice on 20 February 2017.

On 23 August 2018, Declan complained to the Information Commissioner's Office about case notes St Mungo's Executive Director Dominic Williamson assured the Court at trial in February 2017 had been rectified by him but were in fact being held under my name. It took the scheduling of a preliminary hearing in October 2016 to have case notes from two meetings so-called rectified by Williamson as Declan had requested all along; and that rectification only took place after a failed attempt by an international firm of solicitors, Osborne Clarke, to have Declan's claim struck out on the papers. The judge at the preliminary hearing dismissed St Mungo's application to strike out Declan's claim for compensation. DJ Avent's order dated 11 March 2017 does not state why he dismissed the claim at trial. Williamson: "The court case concerned your complaint about the notes on your record. My understanding is that following the court case it became apparent that the note in contention was mirrored on your wife's record - which I don't recall being aware of at the time - and this was subsequently amended to reflect the change we had made to yours. The court was therefore not misled." We strongly disagree that the court was not misled.

20 February 2017: Central London County Court: District Judge Avent dismisses Declan's claim against the Mayor of London-commissioned St Mungo's that alleged the falsification and fabrication of data against us (WITH UPDATE 16/3/2017)

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 we can live independently – we do not have addictions or mental illness or behavioural issues. Our needs are solely related to the harassment, discrimination, intimidation and victimisation we routinely face. For well over a year, we have been battling St Mungo's to stabilise our tenancy; see my post of 21 August, St Mungo's: Pleadings for filing with the Central London County Court. No response from this Mayor of London-commissioned charity's Chief Executive to Declan's letter before action on Monday of last week (WITH UPDATE 24/9/2019). As I stated in my previous post, we cannot see how we will not be taking proceedings against this taxpayer-funded charity before our fixed term tenancy expires next May; that is, if Declan does not file pleadings against them within the next few weeks. It looks today like they may have again compromised our tenancy by creating more case notes against Declan that he has not approved or authorised.

Dominic Williamson
Executive Director of Strategy and Policy
St Mungo's

Address removed for email


24 September 2019

Dear Mr Williamson,

I have just heard back from Marc Appleton in response to my email to St Mungo's CEO Howard Sinclair this day last week. Marc writes: "Just seen your message. I shall get back to you by Friday to arrange meeting." To write this, Marc almost certainly must have also seen something on this thread. I also left two messages on his voicemail before my email to you last Friday below.

As the person with "senior responsibility in St Mungo's for information security and governance" (to quote from your witness statement to the court in December 2016), please can you confirm that any and all notes that have been uploaded to Opal have been agreed with me as per my agreement for support under my tenancy agreement. In other words, that there have been no notes of any description - communication notes or otherwise - uploaded to Opal by Marc or anyone else since those notes previously agreed between me and him.

It will not be possible for me to meet with Marc to discuss the Tenancy Sustainment Team (TST) support I need without this confirmation, particularly in light of my recent four-month battle over the uploading of case notes that were not agreed with me. This included having removed the false and fabricated claim of 15/02/19 that I told Marc that I wanted "to explore training". Your Employment, Training and Education (ETE) service was and remains completely inappropriate in my circumstances.

As I had requested, all notes from and including the 15/02/19 were removed from the system. The notes (18/02/19 - 02/04/19) as agreed between me and Marc were also updated on the system. Please find attached a screenshot evidencing my agreed notes on your Opal system. I have also included the notes from 22/04/16 - 05/11/18 which had already been agreed between me and TST.

My wife's TST caseworker, Sofia Pires, had no difficulty reassuring my wife last week about case notes. They are scheduled to meet tomorrow week to discuss the TST support my wife needs.

Yours sincerely,

Declan Heavey
Managing Director
Network for Church Monitoring

EU freedom for rough sleepers infringed - shock horror. https://t.co/RuJKrSEiTm

— Andrew Martin (@devonprof) May 14, 2018

From My Picks:

24 September: DACS's attempt last week to retrieve a fee from us for copyright infringement reminds us of the last time Declan took the Mayor of London-commissioned St Mungo's to court

The Design and Artists Copyright Society (DACS) is the UK's premier rights management organisation for visual artists.

'Let me recommend an important web site churchandstate.org.uk. Operating out of London this well-designed and exciting web site covers church-state, population, climate change and other issues. Check it out.' Edd Doerr, President, Americans for Religious Liberty

http://churchandstate.org.uk/about/

DACS checks out without prejudice to their rights! But has the Mayor of London-commissioned St Mungo's once again created case notes against Declan without his approval and authorisation?

This quote is in reference to the prospect of a pro bono lawyer to take on DACS (see update below):

9/20/19

Really good news for you and for all concerned about use of public info.

Donald A. Collins
Founder, International Services Assistance Fund

The Design and Artists Copyright Society is the UK's premier rights management organisation for visual artists.

It looks today like St Mungo's may have again compromised our tenancy by creating more case notes against Declan that he has not approved or authorised. If so, this would be nothing short of spectacular in the circumstances; see my post of 21 August, St Mungo's: Pleadings for filing with the Central London County Court. No response from this Mayor of London-commissioned charity's Chief Executive to Declan's letter before action on Monday of last week (WITH UPDATE 24/9/2019). We cannot see how we will not be taking proceedings against this taxpayer-funded charity before our fixed term tenancy expires next May; that is, if Declan does not file pleadings against them within the next few weeks. But at least DACS checked out this evening:

Without prejudice 

Dear Declan, 

I write further to our correspondence regarding the use of work by Emile Loreaux. Thank you for confirming that the work has been permanently removed from your website. I can confirm that no fee will be due for the past use of the work on the Church and State website. We reserve all rights on behalf of the member. 

Kind regards, 

Ciara 

Ciara Dowling
Legal and Copyright Executive
ciara.dowling@dacs.org.uk   

DACS, 33 Old Bethnal Green Road, London, E2 6AA
T: +44 (0) 20 7336 8811
F: +44 (0) 20 7336 8822
dacs.org.uk

I had no way of knowing that the image in question was copyright protected. It is currently being used in dozens of websites and on social media without permission. A google search for the image reveals that it is all over the place.

https://www.google.com/search?newwindow=1&sxsrf=ACYBGNS8vmnRXeUq6SF_sxWh-RAi2u67Kg:1568733320810&q=national+science+fiction+day+2019&tbm=isch&tbs=simg:CAQSkwEJdR0idxBHzOAahwELEKjU2AQaAAwLELCMpwgaYgpgCAMSKLcOlheUC7gOlxe-DpUEsAzpFZkX4iimN_1EjqzfhKPMjqCSlN6Q3hycaMCSDS8H03HgITfCmoZzNS_1WLzAKeUFJJwUNd-eCF9y1uCYhs-LO3g0LbrP77zOJEPyAEDAsQjq7-CBoKCggIARIE0G3Urww&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj-6NWCk9jkAhXcSxUIHYzYBN0Q2A4ILygB




From My Picks

24 September: DACS's attempt last week to retrieve a fee from us for copyright infringement reminds us of the last time Declan took the Mayor of London-commissioned St Mungo's to court

UPDATE 24 September (11.25am): We believe that defending this case is in the public interest. On 19 January, Declan wrote a strongly worded email to DACS to this effect. The next day he was advised by a top copyright lawyer here in London that if DACS is so aggressive that they actually take proceedings against us, then he should "dig in", contact the Law Society pro bono unit, and at the first opportunity have this case transferred to the small claims part of the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court to limit our liability. The lawyer Declan finally spoke to was a referral from another firm of solicitors. Twice that day copyright lawyers sincerely wished him the very best of luck. Don Collins, Founder of the Washington DC-based International Services Assistance Fund, responded to the prospect of a pro bono lawyer to take on DACS: "Really good news for you and for all concerned about use of public info." This situation reminds me of the last time Declan took St Mungo's to court. On that occasion, two working days before the trial, we were informed by Newham Council that they had suspended our housing benefit. It was reinstated the day after the trial. According to the Council, they had been informed by the Department for Work and Pensions that we had vacated. We had absolutely no dealings whatsoever with the DWP for over three years before that. This in fact will be the second time Declan has taken proceedings against St Mungo's in three years.

'Let me recommend an important web site churchandstate.org.uk. Operating out of London this well-designed and exciting web site covers church-state, population, climate change and other issues. Check it out.' Edd Doerr, President, Americans for Religious Liberty

http://churchandstate.org.uk/about/

DACS's attempt last week to retrieve a fee from us for copyright infringement reminds us of the last time Declan took the Mayor of London-commissioned St Mungo's to court (UPDATED 11/12/2019)

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).

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan

This quote is in reference to the prospect of a pro bono lawyer to take on DACS (see update below):

9/20/19

Really good news for you and for all concerned about use of public info.

Donald A. Collins
Founder, International Services Assistance Fund

The Design and Artists Copyright Society is the UK's premier rights management organisation for visual artists.

Update to my DACS post

In DACS's attempt last week to retrieve a fee from us for my use of an image that I had no way of knowing was copyright protected, we are reminded of the last time Declan took the Mayor of London-commissioned St Mungo's to court.

UPDATE 24 September (11.25am): We believe that defending this case is in the public interest. On 19 January, Declan wrote a strongly worded email to DACS to this effect [see below]. The next day he was advised by a top copyright lawyer here in London that if DACS is so aggressive that they actually take proceedings against us, then he should "dig in", contact the Law Society pro bono unit, and at the first opportunity have this case transferred to the small claims part of the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court to limit our liability. The lawyer Declan finally spoke to was a referral from another firm of solicitors. Twice that day copyright lawyers sincerely wished him the very best of luck. Don Collins, Founder of the Washington DC-based International Services Assistance Fund, responded to the prospect of a pro bono lawyer to take on DACS: "Really good news for you and for all concerned about use of public info." This situation reminds me of the last time Declan took St Mungo's to court. On that occasion, two working days before the trial, we were informed by Newham Council that they had suspended our housing benefit. It was reinstated the day after the trial. According to the Council, they had been informed by the Department for Work and Pensions that we had vacated. We had absolutely no dealings whatsoever with the DWP for over three years before that. This in fact will be the second time Declan has taken proceedings against St Mungo's in three years.

18 September: DACS: Will Declan be sued for my use of an image that I had no way of knowing was copyright protected and is currently being used in dozens of websites and on social media without permission? (WITH UPDATE 24/9/2019)

This post was later updated on 24 September for the final time.

Ciara Dowling
Legal and Copyright Executive
DACS
33 Old Bethnal Green Road
London
E2 6AA

19 September 2019

Use of work by Emile Loreaux IREN19-132402

Dear Ms Dowling,

Thank you for your email.

I have discussed this matter with my wife and she is quite satisfied that she could not have possibly known that the image was copyright protected. She also confirmed that the image was removed.

We do not understand why your member would feel that he must receive a fee from me for the duration of use and we must state that any proceedings which he intends to issue will be strenuously defended.

With best wishes.

Yours sincerely,

Declan Heavey
Managing Director
Network for Church Monitoring 

https://www.google.com/search?newwindow=1&sxsrf=ACYBGNS8vmnRXeUq6SF_sxWh-RAi2u67Kg:1568733320810&q=national+science+fiction+day+2019&tbm=isch&tbs=simg:CAQSkwEJdR0idxBHzOAahwELEKjU2AQaAAwLELCMpwgaYgpgCAMSKLcOlheUC7gOlxe-DpUEsAzpFZkX4iimN_1EjqzfhKPMjqCSlN6Q3hycaMCSDS8H03HgITfCmoZzNS_1WLzAKeUFJJwUNd-eCF9y1uCYhs-LO3g0LbrP77zOJEPyAEDAsQjq7-CBoKCggIARIE0G3Urww&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj-6NWCk9jkAhXcSxUIHYzYBN0Q2A4ILygB

6/13/19

This obscene disregard for your rights seems to continue unresolved!

Donald A. Collins
Founder, International Services Assistance Fund

St Mungo's is funded by the Mayor of London to run a number of his rough sleepers initiatives.

Claimant: Declan Heavey
Defendant: St Mungo's

Update to my pleadings post

Declan and I are housed in a flat that is part of the Mayor of London's Rough Sleepers Initiative. It is clear from this update that there is serious intent behind the ongoing threat to the roof over our heads posed by this taxpayer-funded charity.

UPDATE 24 September (11.35am): Declan's claim against St Mungo's is strengthening by the day. On 23 August, St Mungo's Executive Director Dominic Williamson got back to Declan; however, he made no mention of Declan's letter before action but wrote he would talk to his colleagues in the quality team the following week. This was and continues as no more than a delaying tactic, which would explain why Williamson hasn't responded to the claim letter. Declan's original complaint was not only not upheld by the quality team, but it was superseded during the complaints process by his complaint against the tenancy sustainment team (TST) for creating an immediate threat to our tenancy. Last month Declan informed Williamson that he found his complaints process to be ineffective, unfair and biased; and that he will not engage further with the complaints investigation on the specific issue raised in his original complaint, and nor will he refer his superseding complaint to the quality team now or at any time in the future. Declan also informed Williamson that it is his TST team that needs to come to a reasonable agreement with him, not his quality team. But Williamson seems to have no intention of talking to his TST team for resolution, at least not until Declan has taken proceedings against St Mungo's for the second time in three years.

11 December: St Mungo's: Declan has filed in court his reply to an outrageous witness statement from this Mayor of London-commissioned charity. We are threatened with insurmountable debt just to get them to vouch over the phone that we are clients of theirs

This is a newer St Mungo's link containing Declan's reply to an outrageous witness statement from them.

3/16/17

How you manage to do what you do is simply amazing!! And with the pressure on to adjudicate what seems more and more like attacks from a personality from 1984!

Donald A. Collins
Founder, International Services Assistance Fund

County Court at Central London, Royal Courts of Justice

Heavey v St Mungo's (2016)

Trial held in the Central London County Court, Royal Courts of Justice on 20 February 2017.

On 23 August 2018, Declan complained to the Information Commissioner's Office about case notes St Mungo's Executive Director Dominic Williamson assured the Court at trial in February 2017 had been rectified by him but were in fact being held under my name. It took the scheduling of a preliminary hearing in October 2016 to have case notes from two meetings so-called rectified by Williamson as Declan had requested all along; and that rectification only took place after a failed attempt by an international firm of solicitors, Osborne Clarke, to have Declan's claim struck out on the papers. The judge at the preliminary hearing dismissed St Mungo's application to strike out Declan's claim for compensation. DJ Avent's order dated 11 March 2017 does not state why he dismissed the claim at trial. Williamson: "The court case concerned your complaint about the notes on your record. My understanding is that following the court case it became apparent that the note in contention was mirrored on your wife's record - which I don't recall being aware of at the time - and this was subsequently amended to reflect the change we had made to yours. The court was therefore not misled." We strongly disagree that the court was not misled.

20 February 2017: Central London County Court: District Judge Avent dismisses Declan's claim against the Mayor of London-commissioned St Mungo's that alleged the falsification and fabrication of data against us (WITH UPDATE 16/3/2017)

The suspension of our Housing Benefit by Newham Council revealed in this post.

EU freedom for rough sleepers infringed - shock horror. https://t.co/RuJKrSEiTm

— Andrew Martin (@devonprof) May 14, 2018

'Let me recommend an important web site churchandstate.org.uk. Operating out of London this well-designed and exciting web site covers church-state, population, climate change and other issues. Check it out.' Edd Doerr, President, Americans for Religious Liberty

http://churchandstate.org.uk/about/

DACS: We believe defending this case is in the public interest. Declan has been advised that upon receipt of an unreasonably aggressive claim letter he should contact the Law Society pro bono unit, for a start

9/20/19

Really good news for you and for all concerned about use of public info.

Donald A. Collins
Founder, International Services Assistance Fund

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).

The Design and Artists Copyright Society is the UK's premier rights management organisation for visual artists.

This morning Declan was advised by a top copyright lawyer here in London that if DACS is so aggressive that they actually take proceedings against us, then he should "dig in", contact the Law Society pro bono unit, and at the first opportunity have this case transferred to the small claims part of the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court to limit our liability. The lawyer Declan finally spoke to was a referral from another firm of solicitors. Twice this morning copyright lawyers sincerely wished Declan the very best of luck. He has yet to speak with a pro bono lawyer. He has to wait for a claim letter from DACS to do that. We are already dug in!

Ciara Dowling
Legal and Copyright Executive
DACS
33 Old Bethnal Green Road
London
E2 6AA

19 September 2019

Use of work by Emile Loreaux IREN19-132402

Dear Ms Dowling,

Thank you for your email.

I have discussed this matter with my wife and she is quite satisfied that she could not have possibly known that the image was copyright protected. She also confirmed that the image was removed.

We do not understand why your member would feel that he must receive a fee from me for the duration of use and we must state that any proceedings which he intends to issue will be strenuously defended.

With best wishes.

Yours sincerely,

Declan Heavey
Managing Director
Network for Church Monitoring 

https://www.google.com/search?newwindow=1&sxsrf=ACYBGNS8vmnRXeUq6SF_sxWh-RAi2u67Kg:1568733320810&q=national+science+fiction+day+2019&tbm=isch&tbs=simg:CAQSkwEJdR0idxBHzOAahwELEKjU2AQaAAwLELCMpwgaYgpgCAMSKLcOlheUC7gOlxe-DpUEsAzpFZkX4iimN_1EjqzfhKPMjqCSlN6Q3hycaMCSDS8H03HgITfCmoZzNS_1WLzAKeUFJJwUNd-eCF9y1uCYhs-LO3g0LbrP77zOJEPyAEDAsQjq7-CBoKCggIARIE0G3Urww&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj-6NWCk9jkAhXcSxUIHYzYBN0Q2A4ILygB


From My Picks

18 September: DACS: Will Declan be sued for my use of an image that I had no way of knowing was copyright protected and is currently being used in dozens of websites and on social media without permission? (WITH UPDATE 20/9/19)

'Let me recommend an important web site churchandstate.org.uk. Operating out of London this well-designed and exciting web site covers church-state, population, climate change and other issues. Check it out.' Edd Doerr, President, Americans for Religious Liberty

http://churchandstate.org.uk/about/

Email interception: This month not one of Declan's 24 emails to Nobel laureates has been read. We have had using Mailtrack a round average of 150 unread emails a month since last May (UPDATED 30/9/2019)

8/4/19

Half a million [hits] a month with the kind of corrupt blockages you get is amazing!!

Donald A. Collins
Founder, International Services Assistance Fund

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).

24 Nobelists emailed, 1 bounce, 23 unread (0 read)

This month not one of Declan's 24 emails to Nobel laureates has been read, according to Mailtrack. Not all of our emails are sent using Mailtrack, but of those that have been, we have had a round average of 150 unread emails a month since last May. And we can no longer tell when, if at all, anyone will receive an email from either one of us. According to the first Mailtrack summation below, 164 of our emails this month have gone unread; however, the footnote reveals that this figure may be underestimated due to an apparent manipulation of the extension. Last month we experienced Facebook's 60th block (3 days) against Church and State since 1 December 2015, and as usual without an explanation. For the 59th time, they blocked me from posting Church and State articles in groups I belong to. This month it's a double administrative block from them. Not only are they blocking a listing of all the groups I belong to (152 days), but they are also blocking me from scheduling posts from our page (25 days). Despite opposition from Facebook, Church and State topped 3 million hits in 11 months from January to November 2017. Subsequently, Facebook's blocks against the site have gone from 47 days in 2017 to 179 days in 2018 plus 189 days this year. Nonetheless, we get hundreds of thousands of hits - 2.3 million hits in 2018 despite the equivalent of six months of these blocks; and 4.4 million hits this year despite another six months of blocks. These Facebook blocks are in addition to over 2,100 blocks on access to Church and State since 26 July 2016, plus full distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks this year lasting for as long as 24 hours at a time. (SiteGround is paid $1,000 per year to host Church and State and manage the server.) About 70% of our hits are from Americans.

In re Email Interception

Paragraph 42 of Declan's updated complaint to the United Nations under Article 19 (freedom of expression) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

42. The Applicant further complains that the extent of the interference with his emails resulted in 2011 in the shelving of his and his wife's petition in support of human embryonic stem cell research, which had by then been signed by 29 (now 31) Nobel laureates as well as hundreds of academics. In April 2010, an American professor wrote to Minister Featherstone: "I am truly appalled by the unlawful violation of the Heavey's basic right to send and receive email without interference. I would be most grateful for anything you may be able to do by way of taking measures to correct this gross abuse" (emphasis added). Minister Featherstone's subsequent letter to then Home Secretary Theresa May and the Applicant's Human Rights Act claims to the IPT and European Court have had no effect; if anything, the situation has gotten substantially worse. In February 2019, 68 of the Nobel laureates emailed since the previous month had not seen their email, according to Mailtrack. On 21 April 2019, the Applicant's MP Lyn Brown acknowledged by autoreply his complaint about the interception of email but hasn't responded to it. Last month (June 2019), 155 of his and his wife's emails went unread, including four reply emails to those who had just agreed to be listed as Honorary Associates of N4CM. The Applicant has also amassed evidence relating to incoming and outgoing mail delivery. For example, in May 2017, he complained to Royal Mail about the mishandling of his and his wife's incoming mail following the loss in London of their employment contracts to the United States. He repeatedly complained about mail not being put through their letter box before he received £30 in compensation and a failed assurance from the Royal Mail Chief Executive's Office that "the actions taken will prevent this happening again". On 17 July 2018, the Applicant complained to the Office that their renewed Tenancy Agreement was delivered through the bathroom window of another tenant's flat. They can still find letters for them in the front hall of the property they live in.

12 July: Threat to life: Updated complaint to the United Nations under Article 19 (freedom of expression) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Mayor of London-commissioned St Mungo's highlighted

Update Summation 30 September 2019



At least 164 unread emails in September using Mailtrack

2 September: 1 email sent, 0 unread (1 read)
3 September: 24 emails sent, 1 bounce, 23 unread (0 read)
4 September: 14 emails sent, 13 unread (1 read)
6 September: 17 emails sent, 8 unread (9 read)
7 September: 62 emails sent, 44 unread (18 read)
15 September: 1 email sent, 0 unread (1 read)
16 September: 15 emails sent, 15 unread (0 read)
17 September: 2 emails sent, 1 unread (1 read)
23 September: 9 emails sent, 2 unread (7 read)
24 September: 1 email sent, 0 unread (1 read)
25 September: 15 emails sent, 11 unread (4 read)
26 September: 7 emails sent, 1 bounce, 2 unread (4 read)
27 September: 14 emails sent, 4 unread (10 read)
28 September: 45 emails sent, 32 unread (13 read)
29 September: 13 emails sent, 9 unread (4 read)

September: 240 emails sent, 2 bounces, 164 unread* (74 read)

______________________________________

* This month's total of 164 unread emails using Mailtrack is almost certainly underestimated. Last night in the space of 5 minutes Declan received 32 Mailtack reminders that emails from the previous day had not been opened. There's nothing unusual in that, but for the first time ever he also received within that time frame 23 Mailtrack alerts that emails from the previous day had just been read (none of which are counted as legitimate in the figures above). It would appear that Mailtrack can be hacked to trigger findings one way or another.

As of 30 September at 11.35am.

Emails resent to Nobel laureates

On 21 February 68 of the Nobel laureates emailed since 3 January had not seen Declan's email.

21 February: 25 emails resent, 21 unread (4 read)
22 February: 27 emails resent, 23 unread (4 read)
25 February: 46 emails resent, 43 unread (3 read)
26 February: 2 emails resent, 2 phone calls, 1 unread (1 read)
1 March: 5 emails resent, 5 unread (0 read)
2 March: 5 emails resent, 4 unread (1 read)
3 March: 8 emails resent, 5 unread (3 read)
4 March: 8 emails resent, 6 unread (2 read)
5 March: 11 emails resent, 10 unread (1 read)
6 March: 8 emails resent, 7 unread (1 read)
7 March: 10 emails resent, 10 unread (0 read)
8 March: 10 emails resent, 9 unread (1 read)
30 March: 22 emails resent, 19 unread (3 read)

Totals: 187 emails resent, 2 phone calls, 163 unread (24 read)

The above statistics apply to the 68 Nobel laureates recorded on 21 February as not having read Declan's email. Since 31 March, Declan has been trying to email Nobel laureates a second time (32 unread emails) as well as those who have not heard from him previously (170 unread emails).

Not included in the figures above is an email to a Nobel laureate on 4 March confirming his listing as an Honorary Associate that went unread. This has happened four times this year with Nobel laureates, most recently on 1 April. It happens plenty of times with other new associates too.

Last April every category page in our Church and State website was reduced to zero Facebook likes/shares. Our 5 Most Popular articles have 5.7 million (the first 2.1m) Facebook likes/shares between them, not zero.





'Let me recommend an important web site churchandstate.org.uk. Operating out of London this well-designed and exciting web site covers church-state, population, climate change and other issues. Check it out.' Edd Doerr, President, Americans for Religious Liberty

http://churchandstate.org.uk/about/

Church and State is under full distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack

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).

Church and State under a full DDoS attack.

In re DDoS attacks

Paragraph 39 of Declan's updated complaint to the United Nations under Article 19 (freedom of expression) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

39. The Applicant and his wife's Church and State website has been removed from the Internet on five distinct occasions. For example, in May 2012, Just Host, the domain's then registrar, changed the domain name server records without permission and disabled the Applicant's wife's facility to correct these records herself. Shortly after the domain was transferred to SiteGround's registrar, the site was vandalised to such an extent that the Applicant's wife was advised by the WordPress theme developer to start afresh with a new theme. N4CM Chairman Dr. Stephen D. Mumford has been paying for the hosting of the Church and State website since December 2010. Nonetheless, the site continues to be attacked in various ways, such as with Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks. In October 2015, SiteGround responded: "We have blocked the network that is being used by that user agent and now the server should remain working normally." There have subsequently been 2,117 recorded blocks on access to the Church and State since July 2016; and unprecedentedly, the site was the target of five full DDoS attacks in May 2019 lasting for as long as 24 hours at a time. SiteGround is paid $1,000 per year to host the site and manage the server.

12 July: Threat to life: Updated complaint to the United Nations under Article 19 (freedom of expression) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Mayor of London-commissioned St Mungo's highlighted

From My Picks:

18 May: SITE BLOCKS: Are full distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks to be the new norm? SiteGound is paid $1,000 per year to host Church and State and manage the server (WITH UPDATE 18/9/2019: re 2,174th block since 26 July 2016)

UK Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ)

'Let me recommend an important web site churchandstate.org.uk. Operating out of London this well-designed and exciting web site covers church-state, population, climate change and other issues. Check it out.' Edd Doerr, President, Americans for Religious Liberty

http://churchandstate.org.uk/about/

DACS: Will Declan be sued for my use of an image that I had no way of knowing was copyright protected and is currently being used in dozens of websites and on social media without permission? (WITH UPDATE 24/9/2019)

This quote is in reference to the prospect of a pro bono lawyer to take on DACS (see update below):

9/20/19

Really good news for you and for all concerned about use of public info.

Donald A. Collins
Founder, International Services Assistance Fund

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).

The Design and Artists Copyright Society is the UK's premier rights management organisation for visual artists.

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 we can live independently – we do not have addictions or mental illness or behavioural issues. Our needs are solely related to the harassment, discrimination, intimidation and victimisation we routinely face. Yesterday we received a grossly unfair response from St Mungo's to multiple complaints, in that unreliable support has now effectively been deemed satisfactory in both our cases, thereby placing our supported tenancy at risk (a threat to life). See my post yesterday, Threat to life: Declan's breach of duty claim against the Mayor of London-commissioned St Mungo's remains active. Now unreliable support has effectively been deemed satisfactory in both our cases. That's not all! Less than 3/4 of an hour before hearing from St Mungo's, we received an email from DACS here in London. I tried to deal with it as best I could, but apparently not good enough. For sure Declan will defend in the public domain any attempt by DACS to effectively fold our Church and State website. Any such attempt should be a massive concern to everyone who shares material online.

Ciara Dowling
Legal and Copyright Executive
DACS
33 Old Bethnal Green Road
London
E2 6AA  

18 September 2019   

Use of work by Emile Loreaux IREN19-132402

Dear Ms Dowling,

Thank you for your email.

I understand that you may be considering court action to retrieve a fee for my wife's use of an image that she had no way of knowing was the copyright-protected work of a French artist living in Paris. This is also an image currently being used in dozens of websites and on social media without permission, and was promptly removed by my wife with her apologies and explanations upon receipt of your email yesterday.

I am afraid that I will be forced to vigorously defend my wife's use of the image for less than a month as excusable. We are a non-profit that does not run advertisements at all, and nor do I or my wife make any extra money from the work we do. Our combined salaries total slightly more than we would receive on unemployment benefit as a couple. Our rent is mainly paid by Newham Council.

We in fact live in supported housing under the Mayor of London's Rough Sleepers Initiative (RSI) scheme.

Yours sincerely,

Declan Heavey
Managing Director
Network for Church Monitoring

https://www.google.com/search?newwindow=1&sxsrf=ACYBGNS8vmnRXeUq6SF_sxWh-RAi2u67Kg:1568733320810&q=national+science+fiction+day+2019&tbm=isch&tbs=simg:CAQSkwEJdR0idxBHzOAahwELEKjU2AQaAAwLELCMpwgaYgpgCAMSKLcOlheUC7gOlxe-DpUEsAzpFZkX4iimN_1EjqzfhKPMjqCSlN6Q3hycaMCSDS8H03HgITfCmoZzNS_1WLzAKeUFJJwUNd-eCF9y1uCYhs-LO3g0LbrP77zOJEPyAEDAsQjq7-CBoKCggIARIE0G3Urww&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj-6NWCk9jkAhXcSxUIHYzYBN0Q2A4ILygB

UPDATE 24 September (11.25am): We believe that defending this case is in the public interest. On 19 January, Declan wrote a strongly worded email to DACS to this effect. The next day he was advised by a top copyright lawyer here in London that if DACS is so aggressive that they actually take proceedings against us, then he should "dig in", contact the Law Society pro bono unit, and at the first opportunity have this case transferred to the small claims part of the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court to limit our liability. The lawyer Declan finally spoke to was a referral from another firm of solicitors. Twice that day copyright lawyers sincerely wished him the very best of luck. Don Collins, Founder of the Washington DC-based International Services Assistance Fund, responded to the prospect of a pro bono lawyer to take on DACS: "Really good news for you and for all concerned about use of public info."

UPDATE 24 September (4.45pm): DACS has just checked out: "I write further to our correspondence regarding the use of work by Emile Loreaux. Thank you for confirming that the work has been permanently removed from your website. I can confirm that no fee will be due for the past use of the work on the Church and State website. We reserve all rights on behalf of the member." This situation with DACS this past week reminds me of the last time Declan took St Mungo's to court. On that occasion, two working days before the trial, we were informed by Newham Council that they had suspended our housing benefit. It was reinstated the day after the trial. According to the Council, they had been informed by the Department for Work and Pensions that we had vacated. We had absolutely no dealings whatsoever with the DWP for over three years before that. This in fact will be the second time Declan has taken proceedings against St Mungo's in three years.

County Court at Central London, Royal Courts of Justice

Heavey v St Mungo's (2016)

Trial held in the Central London County Court, Royal Courts of Justice on 20 February 2017.

On 23 August 2018, Declan complained to the Information Commissioner's Office about case notes St Mungo's Executive Director Dominic Williamson assured the Court at trial in February 2017 had been rectified by him but were in fact being held under my name. It took the scheduling of a preliminary hearing in October 2016 to have case notes from two meetings so-called rectified by Williamson as Declan had requested all along; and that rectification only took place after a failed attempt by an international firm of solicitors, Osborne Clarke, to have Declan's claim struck out on the papers. The judge at the preliminary hearing dismissed St Mungo's application to strike out Declan's claim for compensation. DJ Avent's order dated 11 March 2017 does not state why he dismissed the claim at trial. Williamson: "The court case concerned your complaint about the notes on your record. My understanding is that following the court case it became apparent that the note in contention was mirrored on your wife's record - which I don't recall being aware of at the time - and this was subsequently amended to reflect the change we had made to yours. The court was therefore not misled." We strongly disagree that the court was not misled.

20 February 2017: Central London County Court: District Judge Avent dismisses Declan's claim against the Mayor of London-commissioned St Mungo's that alleged the falsification and fabrication of data against us (WITH UPDATE 16/3/2017)

EU freedom for rough sleepers infringed - shock horror. https://t.co/RuJKrSEiTm

— Andrew Martin (@devonprof) May 14, 2018

From My Picks

7 October: St Mungo's: This Mayor of London-commissioned charity's failure to provide satisfactory support. Declan's pleadings in this post to be filed in court without further notice

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan

'Let me recommend an important web site churchandstate.org.uk. Operating out of London this well-designed and exciting web site covers church-state, population, climate change and other issues. Check it out.' Edd Doerr, President, Americans for Religious Liberty

http://churchandstate.org.uk/about/

Threat to life: Declan's breach of duty claim against the Mayor of London-commissioned St Mungo's remains active. Now unreliable support has effectively been deemed satisfactory in both our cases

9/17/19

Such incredible chicanery!

Donald A. Collins
Founder, International Services Assistance Fund

chicanery
/ʃɪˈkeɪnəri/

noun
the use of deception or subterfuge to achieve one's purpose.
synonyms: trickery, deception, deceit, deceitfulness, duplicity, dishonesty, unscrupulousness, underhandedness, subterfuge, fraud, fraudulence, sharp practice, skulduggery, swindling, cheating, duping, hoodwinking, deviousness, slyness
"political chicanery of all sorts goes on behind closed doors"

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).

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 we can live independently – we do not have addictions or mental illness or behavioural issues. Our needs are solely related to the harassment, discrimination, intimidation and victimisation we routinely face. For well over a year, we have been battling St Mungo's to stabilise our tenancy; see my post of 21 August: St Mungo's: Pleadings for filing with the Central London County Court. No response from this Mayor of London-commissioned charity's Chief Executive to Declan's letter before action on Monday of last week (WITH UPDATE 17/9/2019). We do not believe that we received a fair response from St Mungo's earlier today, in that unreliable support has now effectively been deemed satisfactory in both our cases, thereby placing our supported tenancy at risk (a threat to life). Declan's subsequent email to St Mungo's CEO Howard Sinclair makes clear that his breach of duty claim remains active. This is that email:

Howard Sinclair
CEO
St Mungo's  

Address removed for email


17 September 2019

Dear Mr Sinclair,

Please find attached to this email the outcome of the investigation by your Tenancy Sustainment Team in north London (TST North).

As I understand it, TST North has responded inter alia to my claim letter of 12 August 2019 and as such the response constitutes a failure to provide me with satisfactory support. Although my wife is not specifically named, I think it is reasonable to suppose that the same unfair treatment applies to her.

For the entire week commencing 8 July 2019, my TST caseworker failed to uphold his end of our agreement for support (the "original complaint"). It is the seemingly intractable position of TST North that I will not be provided with a reference for learning disability volunteering, and that I believe should be issued to put things right. The explanation for this reads: "This is not something that St Mungo's would usually provide to any client. You are not treated differently or unfairly in this respect. TST North will not be providing this to you." 

On 16 July 2019, TST North wrote to my wife: "Caseworkers are able to provide supporting letter or references for clients to support them into employment or training when requested, however case workers are not under any obligation to complete one." Most certainly I believe that I have been treated unfairly in this respect, and in a way that could have serious ramifications for me.

I have repeatedly stated that I found your Quality team's handling of my original complaint to be ineffective, unfair and biased. That complaint was not only not upheld by them, but it was superseded during the complaints process by the subject of my claim letter, which was my complaint against TST North for creating an immediate threat to our tenancy. It should go without saying that I am not willing to go through that experience again. 

I therefore reserve the right to file a breach of duty claim, if this matter cannot be satisfactorily resolved.

Yours sincerely,

Declan Heavey
Managing Director
Network for Church Monitoring

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

24 September: DACS's attempt last week to retrieve a fee from us for copyright infringement reminds us of the last time Declan took the Mayor of London-commissioned St Mungo's to court

The Design and Artists Copyright Society (DACS) is the UK's premier rights management organisation for visual artists.

'Let me recommend an important web site churchandstate.org.uk. Operating out of London this well-designed and exciting web site covers church-state, population, climate change and other issues. Check it out.' Edd Doerr, President, Americans for Religious Liberty

http://churchandstate.org.uk/about/

Email interception: Not one of Declan's 15 emails yesterday using Mailtrack has been read. St Mungo's CEO Howard Sinclair continues to breach pre-action protocol

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).

Update Summation 17 September 2019



103 unread emails in September using Mailtrack

2 September: 1 email sent, 0 unread (1 read)
3 September: 24 emails sent, 1 bounce, 23 unread (0 read)
4 September: 14 emails sent, 13 unread (1 read)
6 September: 17 emails sent, 8 unread (9 read)
7 September: 62 emails sent, 44 unread (18 read)
15 September: 1 email sent, 0 unread (1 read)
16 September: 15 emails sent, 15 unread (0 read)

September: 134 emails sent, 1 bounce, 103 unread (30 read)

Figures adjusted to account for emails read after a Mailtrack daily report.

As of 17 September at 11.05am.

7 September: Mailtrack: This month not one of Declan's 24 emails to Nobel laureates has been read (WITH UPDATE 16/9/2019)

6/13/19

This obscene disregard for your rights seems to continue unresolved!

Donald A. Collins
Founder, International Services Assistance Fund

Claimant: Declan Heavey
Defendant: St Mungo's

Update to my pleadings post

It is clear from this update that there is serious intent behind the threat to the roof over our heads.

UPDATE 17 September (11.15am): St Mungo's CEO Howard Sinclair has breached pre-action protocol by simply not replying to Declan's claim letter of 12 August. Over three weeks ago, on 23 August, St Mungo's Executive Director Dominic Williamson got back to Declan; however, he made no mention of the letter before action but wrote he would talk to his colleagues in the quality team the following week. This was and stands as no more than a delaying tactic, which explains why Declan hasn't heard back from him since. Declan's original complaint was not only not upheld by the quality team, but it was superseded during the complaints process by his complaint against the tenancy sustainment team (TST) for creating an immediate threat to our tenancy (see paragraph 8 of the particulars above). Last month Declan informed Williamson that he found his complaints process to be ineffective, unfair and biased; and that he will not engage further with the complaints investigation on the specific issue raised in his original complaint, and nor will he refer his superseding complaint to the quality team now or at any time in the future. Declan also informed Williamson that it is his TST team that needs to come to a reasonable agreement with him, not his quality team. But Williamson seems to have no intention of talking to his TST team for resolution, at least not until Declan has started court proceedings.

21 August: St Mungo's: Pleadings for filing with the Central London County Court. No response from this Mayor of London-commissioned charity's Chief Executive to Declan's letter before action on Monday of last week (WITH UPDATE 17/9/2019)

EU freedom for rough sleepers infringed - shock horror. https://t.co/RuJKrSEiTm

— Andrew Martin (@devonprof) May 14, 2018

'Let me recommend an important web site churchandstate.org.uk. Operating out of London this well-designed and exciting web site covers church-state, population, climate change and other issues. Check it out.' Edd Doerr, President, Americans for Religious Liberty

http://churchandstate.org.uk/about/

under construction

Particulars of Claim

Background

1. The Claimant and his wife are tenants of the Clearing House, which is run by the Defendant on behalf of the Mayor of London. The Clearing House provides supported housing in London for people with a history of rough sleeping. The Claimant and his wife are living in a Clearing House property owned by Peabody Housing Association. The Greater London Authority (GLA) funds and commissions the Clearing House and related Tenancy Sustainment Teams (TSTs) to the tune of £2.6 million per year. On 17 May 2014, the Claimant and his wife were housed by the Mayor of London's Housing First, an internationally acclaimed programme for rough sleepers, the core principle of which is the provision of permanent accommodation and non-compulsory support (Johnsen and Teixeira, 2010). GLA Housing First was a pilot project commissioned in March 2012 for a period of three years. When this Housing First pilot ended in March 2015, the Claimant and his wife "reverted to being standard Clearing House tenants", according to the GLA in court papers. The Defendant's website states that support from TSTs was introduced in 2000 to "all new tenants and those already in tenancies who required support".

2. It has been recognised by the GLA in court papers that the Claimant and his wife can live independently. Both are degree-holding professionals with a background in teaching and psychology respectively. They do not have addictions or mental illness or behavioural issues. Their support needs are solely related to the belief-related harassment, discrimination, intimidation and victimisation they have encountered since moving to England in 2003 from Ireland with the then-aim of forming a network organisation for those abused by church. They have been twice forced to sleep rough on the streets of London, and for almost four years in total. Since February 2014, through funding from America, both the Claimant and his wife have been part-time employed by Network for Church Monitoring, a non-profit the Claimant founded in 2011. The organisation's 239 Honorary Associates include leading figures from around the world, including 15 Nobel Laureates and eight knighted professors. The Claimant most recently challenged the violation of his rights under Article 19 (freedom of expression) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights by means of an updated complaint to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights dated 12 July 2019[*].

Failure to provide satisfactory support

3. On 10 July 2019, the Claimant complained to the Defendant's TST in north London (TST North) about his TST caseworker's supporting email to Active Newham of Newham London Borough Council, which bounced back as undeliverable because it was sent with a full stop at the end of the address. The Claimant's stage two complaint relating to the entire week commencing 8 July 2019 was not only not upheld by the Defendant's Quality team, but it was superseded during the complaints process by his complaint against TST North for creating an immediate threat to his tenancy (see paragraph 8 below). On 17 September 2019, the Claimant was informed by TST North that he will not be provided with a reference for learning disability (LD) volunteering, and that he believes should be issued to put things right. The explanation reads: "This is not something that St Mungo's would usually provide to any client. You are not being treated differently or unfairly in this respect. TST North will not be providing this to you." As matters stand, there is a failure by the Defendant to provide the Claimant with satisfactory support in regard to a personal referee for LD volunteering (either in writing or over the phone), which poses an ongoing threat to life and/or property (see paragraph 6 below). The Claimant contends that this constitutes a failure to provide satisfactory support - and this notwithstanding his almost four months of dialogue with the Defendant on this issue. It also comes on foot of a string of other violations of the 1998 Human Rights Act (HRA) that have had a destabilising effect upon his tenancy month in, month out for well over a year.

4. Since the beginning of May 2018, the Claimant has been battling the Defendant to stabilise his tenancy. First it was problems with the renewal of their tenancy agreement, which took over two months and the threat of court action to resolve. Then, for over two months, it was problems with inaccurate case notes, which got even more serious when the Claimant discovered that notes the Defendant assured the court the year previous had been rectified were in fact being held under the Claimant's wife's name. Then, for almost three months, the Claimant battled the Defendant for a TST caseworker such as his wife would eventually be assigned, during which time he also had to stave off enforced joint visits. In January of this year, the Claimant discovered that outrageous communication notes were being held against him since May 2018. After these case notes were removed, TST North provided written assurance that any and all future notes would be agreed upon by both parties. The Claimant was then forced to engage in a four-month battle over false and misleading notes that were inputted without his authority or consent. This was followed the next month by the Claimants complaint to the Quality team, referred to in paragraph 3 above, and his preceding and ongoing battle for satisfactory support.

5. Also relevant to this case is a complaint the Claimant made on 8 April 2019 to Mayor of London Sadiq Khan about a blockade across London on his volunteer applications. The Claimant 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 (DBS checked), and has a high-quality written recommendation from his professional referee. Last year the Claimant became an accredited UK Athletics assistant coach to further enhance his volunteering applications. Nonetheless, supporting emails that TST North 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 the Defendant 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, this TST caseworker's supporting email of 15 March 2019 and follow-up phone calls on 22 March and 2 April 2019 were in effect all ignored. The Claimant has had no contact with KEEN London. It cannot, therefore, be suggested that he compromised this support.

Continual threat to life and/or property

6. The failure of the Defendant to provide the Claimant with satisfactory support in regard to a personal referee for LD volunteering (either in writing or over the phone), poses an ongoing threat to life and/or property. In an email to Active Newham regarding the Claimant's case of unfair treatment against the leisure trust for Newham London, it has been acknowledged by the Defendant that "this matter [of volunteering in the community] will impact on the sustainment of Mr. Heavey's tenancy in the long term". The Claimant's tenancy agreement with Peabody states: "We have granted this tenancy to help provide support services to you. If you refuse to co-operate in providing the support services or refuse to accept the services provided, we may treat this as you breaking your tenancy." There is also a threat to life in this case considering the following range of factors as applicable:

a. The Claimant 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 Claimant is in his late fifties (59), 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.

b. Back on the streets the Claimant and his wife will be restricted to sleeping on night buses in all sorts of weather (money permitting), notwithstanding the Claimant'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 Claimant's wife being threatened with arrest on the trumped-up charge of assaulting a police officer. The Claimant's subsequent complaint to the Police Professional Standards Directorate was not upheld.

c. The Claimant and his wife have serious concerns about the health care the Claimant has or has not received over the years from the National Health Service. Prior to his hospitalisation with pneumonia in 2006, he lost consciousness while vomiting. He was discharged from Chelsea and Westminster Hospital 42 hours after admission whilst still unwell. Most recently, in 2018, NHS England did not uphold his complaint about emergency dental treatment. He was only prescribed antibiotics after his tooth erupted within days of the treatment.

Ineffective, unfair and biased complaints procedure

7. In a Witness Statement dated 14 December 2016, the Defendant wrote: "St Mungo's has an effective complaints procedure, which our clients can use to address problems they are having. Mr. Heavey has bypassed this process and instigated litigation". The Defendant's Quality team did not uphold the Claimant's complaint about his TST caseworker's supporting email to Active Newham, referred to in paragraph 3 above, but sent it back to stage one of its complaints process for further investigation on two peripheral points (only one of which was partially upheld). Moreover, the Claimant's original complaint was superseded during the complaints process by the subject his claim letter dated 12 August 2019, which was his complaint against TST North for creating an immediate threat to his tenancy by insisting that no reference would be issued, or an explanation for its non-issue provided, before a meeting has taken place between the Claimant and his TST caseworker "to discuss your support moving forward". The Claimant has repeatedly informed the Defendant that he will not engage again in the future with its complaints procedure, which he has found to be ineffective, unfair and biased. In the current situation, and after several months of dialogue with TST North on the issue of its failure to provide satisfactory support, the Claimant believes that he must seek relief in court.

Relief sought

8. The Defendant has a duty to provide the Claimant with the support he needs to stabilise his tenancy. Nonetheless, it took the Defendant over a month and a half to even mention the Claimant's claim letter dated 12 August 2019, in a clarification email from TST North dated 3 October 2019. As matters stand, there is a failure by the Defendant to provide the Claimant with satisfactory support in regard to a personal referee for LD volunteering (either in writing or over the phone), which poses an ongoing threat to life and/or property. The Claimant contends that this constitutes a failure to provide satisfactory support - and this notwithstanding several months of dialogue with the Defendant on this issue. It also comes on foot of a string of other violations of HRA Articles 8 (protection of family life and home) and 14 (prohibition of discrimination) that have had a destabilising effect upon his tenancy since the beginning of May 2018. The Claimant is, therefore, making an application to the Court for a declaration that the Defendant has acted unreasonably and in breach of duty towards him. Alternatively, the Claimant asks that leave to appeal be granted.

_________________________________

* 12 July: Threat to life: Updated complaint to the United Nations under Article 19 (freedom of expression) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Mayor of London-commissioned St Mungo's highlighted

Greater London Authority: Declan's complaint against the Mayor of London's Rough Sleeping Team at City Hall is reworked by the Authority and dismissed

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).

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan

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 at St Mungo's. It has been acknowledged by the Greater London Authority (GLA) in court papers that we can live independently – we do not have addictions or mental illness or behavioural issues. Our needs are solely related to the harassment, discrimination, intimidation and victimisation we routinely face; see my post of 8 April, Threat to Life: Declan writes to Mayor of London Sadiq Khan about the blockade across London on his volunteer applications notwithstanding his support from the Mayor-commissioned St Mungo's (WITH UPDATE 19/6/2019). The post contains Declan's email to Mayor of London Sadiq Khan. Declan received a reply on behalf of the Mayor from David, who described himself as "part of the Rough Sleeping Team at City Hall with responsibilities for the Mayor's rough sleeping services". This David basically ignored everything Declan had to say about the blockade across London on his volunteer applications and without authority or consent attempted to involve our landlord, Peabody Trust housing association, in what has become an ongoing serious legal dispute with St Mungo's; see my updated post of 21 August, St Mungo's: Pleadings for filing with the Central London County Court. No response from this Mayor of London-commissioned charity's Chief Executive to Declan's letter before action on Monday of last week (WITH UPDATE 9/9/2019). Declan's stage 1 complaint to the GLA almost three months ago was reworked by the Authority into a data complaint and effectively dismissed this evening.

Housing and Land  
Greater London Authority

Address removed for email


19 June 2019

Dear Housing and Land,

Please treat this email as my stage 1 complaint to the GLA.  

Last month David (surname not provided below) of the Rough Sleeping Team at City Hall asked St Mungo's to contact me with a view to liaising with my landlord, Peabody. This could have, and in fact may have, created problems for both me and my wife. I was engaged in a serious legal dispute with St Mungo's at the time.

David breached my rights by contacting St Mungo's like this without my authority or consent.

I request that you uphold my complaint. I further seek assurance that the GLA will make no further contact with St Mungo's on my behalf without my consent.

Yours faithfully,

Declan Heavey
Managing Director
Network for Church Monitoring

Nowhere in any correspondence with the GLA has Declan expressed his concern that the GLA had transferred correspondence to St Mungo's without his prior consent and that this was in breach of his rights.

9 September 2019

Dear Mr Heavey,

I write in response to your recent correspondence with various colleagues in the GLA Housing & Land Directorate and the GLA Monitoring Officer in relation to your concerns about how we handled an earlier piece of your correspondence. In particular, you expressed your concern that the GLA had transferred this correspondence to St Mungo's without your prior consent and that this was in breach of your rights.

These concerns have been passed to me to address in my capacity as the GLA's Data Protection Officer. Please accept my apologies for delay in replying.

As you may already be aware, the GLA and St Mungo's have an established relationship under UK Data Protection Legislation - the Data Protection Act 2018 and EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) - in relation to services such as Clearing House, CHAIN and the Tenancy Sustainment Team North.

In relation to the processing of personal data under data protection legislation for these purposes, the GLA is a data controller - the party who (either alone or jointly or in common with other persons) determines the purposes for which and the manner in which any personal data are processed. In this regard, St Mungo's are engaged as a data processor, who process personal data in accordance with our instructions.

As my colleague explained in his email to you of 19 June, the GLA commissions St Mungo's to provide the TST North service to provide support to people in Clearing House properties; this is a process which is reflected by the nature of our data processing arrangements with St Mungo's, whereby they process data on behalf of the GLA in relation to the delivery of these services.

You correspondence was shared with St Mungo's in accordance with these arrangements and I am satisfied that the GLA has not acted in a manner contrary to these arrangements or otherwise in a way that would constitute a breach of the data protection legislation.

As you may be aware, you are also entitled to raise a concern with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the supervisory body authorised by the Data Protection Act 2018 to regulate the handling of personal data within the United Kingdom. The contact details for the ICO are:

Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, SK9 5AF
Telephone: 0303 123 1113
Website: https://ico.org.uk/concerns/  

If you have any further questions, please contact me via data.protection@london.gov.uk or mayor@london.gov.uk  

Regards,

Ian Lister
Information Governance Manager & Data Protection Officer
Greater London Authority

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

12 July: Threat to life: Updated complaint to the United Nations under Article 19 (freedom of expression) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Mayor of London-commissioned St Mungo's highlighted

'Let me recommend an important web site churchandstate.org.uk. Operating out of London this well-designed and exciting web site covers church-state, population, climate change and other issues. Check it out.' Edd Doerr, President, Americans for Religious Liberty

http://churchandstate.org.uk/about/