Church and State blog: Broadway

Showing posts with label Broadway. Show all posts

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Department for Work and Pensions again denies me a Crisis Loan

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dear Secretary of State,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Please would you acknowledge receipt.

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

Email: dheavey@gmail.com

Home address:
83 Priory Gardens
London N6 5QU

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

Friday, September 04, 2009

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

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

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

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

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

This is Declan’s email to Sinclair yesterday afternoon:

Subject: Broadway assistance in claiming Jobseeker's Allowance

Dear Mr. Sinclair,

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

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

Thursday, September 03, 2009

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

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

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

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

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

Subject: NINO meeting

Dear Mr. Sinclair,

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

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

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

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

- Big Issue ID

- Evidence regarding the Joint claim made in 2005

Supplementary documents/letters, etc. include:

- Yorkshire Building Society cash card and stamped Account Verification printout

- Shorthold Tenancy Agreement

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

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

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

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

Yours sincerely,

Declan Heavey

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

Monday, August 17, 2009

Declan barred from the Dellow Centre

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

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

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

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

And Declan’s email this afternoon to Sinclair:

Subject: Broadway assistance in claiming Jobseeker's Allowance

Dear Mr. Sinclair,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Please would you acknowledge receipt.

Yours sincerely
Declan Heavey

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

Saturday, July 11, 2009

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

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

PRIVATE PROPERTY

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Declan appeals to the Independent Police Complaints Commission

As I stated in yesterday’s blog, things are very much on the boil, particularly at our sleeping pitch, Salters’ Hall (see blog of 5 June “Salters back in the spotlight” for two Google map photos of the sleeping pitch). Last night around midnight we were harassed by three workers from the homeless organisation Broadway. It was of course two workers from the same organisation who visited us with two police officers on the night of 28 May in what turned out an encounter of surreal proportions (see blog “Last night something surreal happened”). Declan and I did all our talking that night and had no interest in pointless conversation, but these three guys did not seem too happy about it.

“We’re reading your blog and just wonder if you would be willing to air your views to two of our mental health workers that I have here with me,” one of them blurted on being ignored, like all of a sudden we were sleeping not in Britain, but in Russia! (Declan has actually been to the police already about one of these workers for harassment and intimidation; he retains a With Compliments slip dated 29 April from Bishopsgate police station wherein PC Thomas, 409CP, registers his name against front office clerk Claire Stevenson’s description of the guy’s behaviour as “intrusive” and “inappropriate”.)

Well, if they are reading my blog, they shouldn’t bother coming back any time soon: as I have written in previous blogs, I was told recently in the canteen of Catholic Sisters of Mercy Dellow Day Centre that I should “lap dance for donations” (for more on the Dellow in particular, see blog of 14 May “Letter to Archbishop Vincent Nichols”).

Tonight the BBC is showing “Famous, Rich and Homeless” about five celebrities who undertook ten days of sleeping rough, soup runs and hostels in a bid to put homelessness in the spotlight. Bruce Jones told The Sun how he lost control of his emotions when he walked through the front door of his luxury home in Alderley Edge, Cheshire, to be reunited with wife Sandra. He says: “She gathered me in her arms and I’m not ashamed to say that I broke down and wept like a baby.” I suppose our survival of sleeping rough for over two and a half years is pretty amazing. Add to that that I am maintaining a blog, developing a website and we have a petition to the UN on therapeutic cloning that has been already signed by 24 Nobel laureates, and I would say it is probably unique. Not to mention that we have also been through the High Court (see here), Court of Appeal (see here), and European Court of Human Rights (see here).

To add insult to injury, it seems that Declan’s complaint last Thursday to the City of London Police Professional Standards Directorate against two City of London police officers, having been further issued with false records in relation to their encounter with him and me at our sleeping pitch two nights previous, has now been dismissed. Apparently DC Nigel Anderson, in the Directorate, still hasn’t the first clue what Declan is complaining about (see previous blog). Well, this is Declan’s appeal this afternoon to the Independent Police Complaints Commission - an automated generated acknowledgement confirmed they have received the email:

Subject: Complaint

Dear Sir/Madam,

I refer to the attached copy of my email and attachment of 22 June to DC Nigel Anderson, in the City of London Police Professional Standards Directorate, regarding the behaviour of two City of London police officers on the night of 16 June at Salters' Hall, St. Alphage Highwalk, Fore Street, Moorgate, London (CAD 10903).

I wish to appeal to the Independent Police Complaints Commission on the grounds that, in the absence of hearing further from the Professional Standards Directorate, I have not been given enough information about what the investigation has found.

My wife and I are of no fixed abode and have been sleeping rough in the City of London since 3 November 2006. (We slept in the same porch until a trellis gate was installed on 4 September 2008; as from 12 September, our sleeping pitch has been located at Salters' Hall.)

Please would you acknowledge receipt by return email.

Yours sincerely,
Declan Heavey

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

More police intimidation at the place we sleep, Salters

Last night I was lucky enough to avoid being escorted by two police officers to a police van at the place we sleep – the back of Salters' Hall, a porch located on a derelict highwalk (see blog of 5 June “Salters back in the spotlight” for two Google map photos of the pitch).

At around 10.00pm – Declan is about to nod off to sleep in his sleeping bag and I am reading a book – two security guards from the company Guarding UK approach us. They flash their lights into my face and as bluntly as possible one of them tells me that they are patrolling the highwalk and they want us off it, right away. I point out that we have been sleeping at Salters’ Hall since last September, on the highwalk since January, and the porch is owned by the Salters’ Company over which they have no jurisdiction. All falls on deaf ears, and within ten or so minutes two police officers are on the scene (incident no. 10903).

By now Declan has all our stuff out of the porch and is separating things for what we believe will surely be my arrest – last September I was arrested by four police officers for a breach of the peace because I refused to move on as a result of having nowhere else to sleep (see blog of 11 September “I am arrested for ‘breach of the peace’”); last Friday night I was also threatened with arrest by another police officer who wanted us to move ourselves and our things away so that two City of London Corporation street cleaners could wash and disinfect the porch floor (this skulduggery is carried out under what the City of London police call Operation Poncho II, see previous blog).

PC 208CP and PC 671CP from Bishopsgate police station are adamant that we have no option but to leave the highwalk, and no, PC 208CP says, the police don’t need a court order to force us to vacate the highwalk! Anyway, I refuse to move and we very much repeat the things we said on the night of the 28 May when two police officers from Snow Hill police station and two workers from the homeless organisation Broadway visited us (see blog “Last night something surreal happened”) - Declan made a couple of hilarious comments, as usual, particularly relating to his washing on the street since 10 April of last year because of harassment and intimidation by other homeless at the RC Sisters of Mercy Dellow Day Centre and the Catholic Manna Day Centre (see blog of 14 May “Letter to Archbishop Vincent Nichols”).

PC 208CP informs us on leaving with the two security guards that if we want our copies of the record of the encounter/stop (called 386s) to which we are entitled, Declan should call into the police station in the morning to collect them because he doesn’t have any with him! The police station had nothing for him this morning, though.

This visit from the police just happened to come on top of an afternoon of variety for Declan. First, he had to email Asab Ali, the manager of our local council’s Idea Store Whitechapel library – located only a few minutes from the huge East London Mosque and London Muslim Centre – regarding the library’s MIMEsweeper software blocking access to his Google Mail account due to “Porn Detected”. (Only a few weeks ago I was bullied by two security guards into vacating the computer I had booked the previous day, which I refused to do, see blog of 13 May “Letter to the Leader of Tower Hamlets Council”.)

Then he had to submit a written complaint to the manager of the local internet café against a homeless man from the Salvation Army’s Booth House hostel for homeless men across the road, such was the extent of the unprovoked and loud verbal abuse he was subjected to sitting among the upstairs computers – “you have no f*ckin’ manners”, “you are an Irish grass”, etc.; of course, Declan has no idea how this guy knows he is Irish!

For the record, this is the email Declan sent this afternoon to City of London Police Commissioner Michael Bowron on the incident last night:

Subject: CAD 10903 (16/06/09)

Dear Commissioner Bowron,

I refer to the attached copy of my email to you of 13 June (and attachments) regarding Operation Poncho II and wish to confirm that I retain a stamped With Compliments slip dated today from Bishopsgate police station, stating:

On wed 17/06/09 at 08.00 Mr Declan Heavey attended Bishopsgate police station to collect 386 in relation to stop at Salters Hall (CAD 10903 of 16/06/09). Copy not found. Mr Heavey intends to return on 18/06/09 in the hope of collecting said 386.

As you are aware, my wife and I are of no fixed abode and have been sleeping rough in the City of London since 3 November 2006. (We slept in the same porch until a trellis gate was installed on 4 September 2008, and as from 12 September our sleeping pitch has been located at Salters' Hall, Fore Street.)

I can confirm that at 10.00pm last night two City of London police officers from Bishopsgate police station, PC 208CP and PC 671CP, were summoned to our sleeping pitch at Salters' Hall by two security guards from the company Guarding UK who were patrolling (a derelict) St. Alphage Highwalk. PC 208CP informed my wife that he was not in need of a court order and that she had to vacate the highwalk immediately. My wife refused as a result of having nowhere else to sleep, the upshot being that the two police officers and two security guards left, PC 208CP informing me on leaving that if I wanted our copies of the record of the encounter/stop to which we were entitled I should call into the police station in the morning to collect them.

I reconfirm that at 1.00am last Friday night PC 493CP from Snow Hill police station insisted pursuant to Operation Poncho II that my wife and I move out of our sleeping pitch at Salters' Hall to allow two City of London Corporation street cleaners to wash and disinfect the porch floor. When my wife refused as a result of having nowhere else to sleep, she was told by PC 493CP that she would be arrested if she did not vacate the porch. Again my wife refused, the upshot being that one of the street cleaners poured disinfectant around where she remained outstretched in her sleeping bag. With that, PC 493CP and the two street cleaners left the highwalk.

Perhaps I should mentioned here that the homeless organisation Broadway, in an unsolicited email to my wife and me on Monday (also attached), and in quoting from my wife's blog of 11 June "Harassment at the place we sleep, Salters", acknowledged by implication the content of her blog of 29 May "Last night something surreal happened", thereby sealing my wife's defense for a court subject to the Human Rights Act 1998.

In the event of error in transmission, please note that the order of attachments is as follows:

cussen(13.6.09).htm
cussen(12.9.08).htm
cussen(10.6.08).htm
broadway(15.6.09).htm

Please would you acknowledge receipt.

Yours sincerely
Declan Heavey

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Police 'No sleeping' sign in the porch

Last night at 10.00pm Declan and I were woken in the porch we sleep in by three workers from Broadway, the homeless organisation that Superintendent Lorraine Cussen of Snow Hill police station, in her email to Declan of 10 June (see blog of 11 June “Letter to the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis”), recommended we engage with. “If we could have a chat with you and Declan,” the most senior of them says, “about what we can do for you.” Somehow she already knows about our case in the European Court of Human Rights, so Declan further informs her that he wrote to the Court on 12 May, citing a violation of Article 34 of the European Convention on Human Rights and requesting that the Court take this matter up with the Government (see blog “Letter to the European Court under Article 34”) – Article 34 establishes a duty on Convention states not to subject applicants to any improper indirect acts or contacts designed to dissuade or discourage applicants from pursuing a Convention remedy.

I add that since 13 June Declan has been assaulted in the porch (see blog of 14 June “Declan is assaulted in the porch”); his main bag, which contained, among other things, all our documentation and money, has been robbed in the Dellow Centre (see blog of 18 June “Declan robbed in the Sisters of Mercy Dellow Centre”); and he has been assaulted in the Manna Centre (see blog of 19 June “Declan assaulted in the Manna Centre”) – the robbery took place the same day Declan had intended sending by registered post his second request for priority to the European Court, which I posted to the blog that afternoon, with the robbery included; the request can be read here (two days after the robbery, the Dellow Centre presented Declan with a letter from the European Court, which is published here).

This orchestrated campaign of violence against us seems to have only started, I say, adding that that afternoon, in Bow Street police station, Declan is told that the case on the robbery of all our money and documents has been “struck out” because the investigating officer was unable to get any CCTV footage whatsoever from the Dellow Centre (see email to Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor below, to which his Personal Secretary, Sr Damian McGrath, replied this morning: “I am writing to acknowledge receipt of your email concerning Providence Row Charity. The Cardinal is out of the country at the present time but he will see your email on his return next week.”); around the same time in the Idea Store Whitechapel library I am told by a member of staff, in the middle of my computer booking, that I have to give the computer up to another card holder or security will be called (see email to the Leader of Tower Hamlets Council below); and at 9.10pm, when we arrive back at the porch, we are greeted by the City of London Police 'No sleeping' sign overhead. So, no I don’t think Broadway can do much for us, I finally say.

The Broadway worker means if we would apply for benefits. But Declan explains he would have to withdraw his application to the Court, which neither of us could contemplate. (The Department of Work and Pensions terminated our benefits on 27 September 2006 because Declan didn't sign on two days before he was due to do so on 29 September, see blog of 8 September 2007 “Application to the European Court of Human Rights”.)

No sleeping sign ‘No sleeping’ sign

She fixes her eyes on the City of London Police 'No sleeping' sign. “This was put today?” she asks. Just the latest attempt to move us out of the porch, I reply, adding that on 9 May police told us they were "cleaning" the City of London of rough sleepers and that we either move to beyond city boundaries or be arrested, despite that Declan had been diagnosed in the Royal London Hospital with a sprained ankle only hours before (see blog of 9 May "Letter to the Mayor of London”); police also told us the same thing on 17 May (see blog of 17 May "Letter to the British Prime Minister"). Then the whole approach changed, I informed her: on 2 and 9 June, we have to move out of the porch (to beyond city boundaries) so that the City of London's Cleansing service can wash and disinfect the porch floor with immediate effect; and we can be arrested if we don’t move (see blog of 18 June "Second Request for Priority to the European Court").

We are quite aware that the sign is “not worth the paper it is written on”, Declan says. The May issue of The Pavement (a free magazine for London’s homeless) states that shopkeepers in the big tourist area of the Strand (Westminster area) are abandoning the Whitehall Safer Neighbourhood [police] Team’s 'No sleeping' signs on their shop fronts, claiming that they are no longer effective; apparently, the shopkeepers prefer to call the police if they have any problems or incidents. (We, by the way, have been sleeping in this porch – an office building – for over a year and a half (since 3 November 2006), bed down at 9.00pm, get up at 4.30am, don’t drink or smoke, and never have had a complaint against us; hardly material for the sign.)

“We will come back some other time,” she said, and they all left. So what is going to happen when police tell us we have to move out of the porch because the sign gives them permission to move us on (as they can see the proprietor(s) have not consented)? Well, Declan will pick up his bags and head off, but I am going to stay put: I will submit that there hasn’t been a complaint against us in over a year and a half and that this is no more than a flagrant violation of Article 34. Declan’s recent letter from the Court, dated 16 June, not only acknowledges receipt of his email letter of 12 May pursuant to Article 34 but states that Declan should inform the Court “about any major developments” regarding the case; so if I am arrested Declan will do just that, again by email, and within hours of me being placed in custody. (And if it is a worker who wants us out? Well, more or less the same. I will politely, and very apologetically, ask him to phone the police, having explained that our case is before the European Court of Human Rights.)

In his email, Declan will argue that my arrest violates Article 8 (which includes an individual’s physical and moral integrity), as well as Article 34. Declan will submit that the interference with his rights under Article 8 was not prescribed by law, that it did not pursue any of the legitimate aims in Article 8(2), and that the interference was not necessary in a democratic society. “There is simply no relationship of proportionality between the aim pursued and the interference with the applicant’s rights,” Declan will say.

At least I can take comfort we don’t live under Robert Mugabe – an article in The Independent today titled “'A flagrant violation of democracy': ANC tells Mugabe to delay election” reports that the ANC said it was "deeply dismayed by the actions of the government of Zimbabwe, which is riding roughshod over the hard-won democratic rights of the people of that country”. But I find very uplifting a talk given by Noam Chomsky (described by The New York Times as “arguably the most important intellectual alive”, and an early signatory of Declan’s petition to the UN on therapeutic cloning) – in December 2006, see blog of 12 June “The threat of a good example”.

This is the email to Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor yesterday evening:

Subject: Providence Row Charity

Dear Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor

Previous correspondence refers. Please find below a copy of my email of even date to the Chief Executive of Providence Row Charity, Ms Jo Ansell, regarding the above.

Yours sincerely
Declan Heavey

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

Subject: Providence Row Charity

Dear Ms Ansell

Thank you for your ("Receipt acknowledged") email of 23 June in respect of my email of 20 June, wherein I drew to your attention as the chief executive of Providence Row Charity (of which the Dellow Centre is a part) the robbery of all my and my wife's money and documents in the canteen of the Dellow Centre on the morning of 18 June (crime reference no. 4215697/08).

In further reference to my email of 20 June, I can confirm that this afternoon I visited Bow Street police station to be updated on the investigation into the robbery. I understand that the investigating officer, PC Van-Gelder (number unknown), has been unable to get any CCTV footage whatsoever from the Dellow Centre, and consequently the case has been "struck out" by him.

Please would you acknowledge receipt.

Yours sincerely
Declan Heavey
Chain no. 69828

cc Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, Archbishop of the Diocese of Westminster (by email)
Mr Erik Fribergh, Registrar of the European Court of Human Rights (by registered post*)
________________________
* Supporting Documents, p 13, Second Request for Priority under Rule 41 of the Rules of Court

And for the record, this is Declan’s email letter this afternoon to the Leader of Tower Hamlets Council, Councillor Denise Jones:

Subject: Idea Store Whitechapel

Dear Cllr Jones

I refer further to the attached copy of my most recent correspondence with Mr Ian McNicol, Head of Idea Stores, to whom you referred my original complaint of 21 January regarding Idea Store Whitechapel and the repeated loss of computer bookings and internet access on both my wife's card (card no. D000350314) and my card (card no. D000355837) since 14 November 2007.

I also attach copy of my wife's and my computer bookings for 23 and 24 June.

In the continued absence of a response from Mr McNichol in respect of the aforementioned complaint of 21 January, I wish to confirm that (1) on 24 June at approximately 12.30pm, while on computer 24 in Idea Store Whitechapel, my wife was asked by a member of staff to give the computer up to another card holder, despite that thirty minutes earlier a member of staff had confirmed in writing that my wife had booked the computer from 11.30am to 2.30pm (this particular member of staff was aggressive, threatening to call security if she didn't move immediately; only leaving when another member of staff intervened to allow my wife to retain her booking); and (2) on 23 June at approximately 3.30pm, while on computer 23, my wife was asked by a member of staff to give the computer up to another card holder, despite that a member of staff had confirmed in writing that she had booked the computer for my wife from 2.30pm to 5.30pm (this particular member of staff only left when another member of staff intervened to allow my wife to retain her booking).

I also reconfirm that (1) on 28 March, my wife experienced difficulties accessing the internet from 12.30pm to 1.50pm (she was informed by a member of staff that no other person had reported any difficulties whatsoever accessing the internet); (2) on 11 February, a member of staff had to move me from one computer to another because it was not possible for me to access the internet (no other computer user reported any such difficulty); (3) on 10 February, my wife lost her booking to another card holder and had to spend 10 minutes dealing with a member of staff before the computer was re-booked in her name, and (4) on 1 February, I received an email from Mr Sergio Dogliani, Principal Idea Store Manager, advising that the restriction by Idea Store Whitechapel of my wife and I to a 3-hour maximum free computer use per day as from 29 January was irretractable, despite that for several months previous both my wife and I had been given extra hours of free computer use, subject to computer availability.

As I explained in my original letter of complaint of 21 January, since 22 October 2007 my wife and I have been using as much of our computer time in Idea Store Whitechapel as possible to contact distinguished scientists and academics to invite them to sign my petition to the United Nations on therapeutic cloning and the use of stem cells for research and for the treatment of disease. To date, this petition has been signed by 519 scientists and academics, including 22 Nobel laureates.

Kindly note that the case of Heavey v. the United Kingdom is currently before the European Court of Human Rights (Application no. 22541/07).

Please would you acknowledge receipt.

Yours sincerely
Declan Heavey

cc Mr Erik Fribergh, Registrar of the European Court of Human Rights (by registered post*)
________________________
* Supporting Documents, p 14-16, Second Request for Priority under Rule 41 of the Rules of Court

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