We are back sleeping rough

Last night at 8.30pm Declan and I left our new Sunday WLCHC (West London Churches Homeless Concern) rolling shelter at Riverside Community Church in Hammersmith, never to return. We are now back to where we were before we started up with the WLCHC rolling winter shelter programme in mid-December, sleeping in the porch in Whitechapel we went into on our first night of homelessness on 3 November.

In a nutshell, the reason why Declan decided we had to pull out was because the threats and intimidation escalated to new heights last night and Declan didn’t believe he was safe spending any more time in a WLCHC venue.

I actually had a bad feeling from the start. In the queue outside the church, the women were invited as usual to go in first by the homeless while on this occasion blocking me out. The coordinator on duty also allowed one of the two Spaniards to enter drunk – in breach of their own rules.

So while Declan is sitting at the dinner table waiting for everyone to get seated, who ends up sitting in the chair next to him but the drunk Spaniard, after the white South African stood up to give him his chair.

Declan had actually to tell the Spaniard to take his hands off him and even a volunteer had to ask him to cool down. To no avail though … the next thing he does is to put his fist to Declan’s face. When Declan asked the volunteer if he saw it, the volunteer tells Declan from a few feet away that he saw the fist close to his face but not actual contact.

It was then Declan decided we had to get out from under the WLCHC – things had evidently got out of control in relation to him. So he came down to the women’s room and told me to pack up everything, and leave.

Before we left Hammersmith we went back to the local police station to keep PC Stephanie Tann (737FH) – who says she will be phoning Declan before the end of the week in relation to the assault on him on 25 January at 3.30am – updated. She wasn’t there, so Declan left a message for her and a photocopy of two police tickets we were issued on 11 November with the address of our porch and the identification of us as rough sleepers. (For the five weeks that we slept in the porch before this rolling winter shelter programme, we were visited on four occassions by the Metropolitan Police.)

Declan presses charges for physical assault

Last night in the WLCHC (West London Churches Homeless Concern) rolling shelter at St Barnabas Church in Kensington we were told by the coordinator on duty that he was satisfied the assault on Declan the night before last was an accident.

This morning – we are woken at 6.00am – Declan and I left the shelter straight away and headed for Hammersmith Police Station to press charges. Declan was given his crime reference number (6002035-07) and told by PC Stephanie Tann (737FH) that the incident had yet to be investigated by her, but that she would telephone Declan before the end of next week.

So the police have now to interview this homeless guy, and I am hoping that all of that takes place in one of the rolling shelters we sleep in at night. Perhaps that would give pause for thought to any homeless emboldened by “the accident”.

This afternoon, Declan emailed the vicar of Holy Trinity Brompton, Nicky Gumbel. Holy Trinity Brompton is an Anglican church in Knightsbridge, of whose Social Transformation programme WLCHC is a part. This is the email:

Subject: Physical Assault

Dear Vicar Gumbel

I refer to my telephone conversation this morning with your PA, Ms Roslyn Dehaan, and wish to reconfirm that I have pressed charges for physical assault on 25 January (3.30am) at the WLCHC rolling shelter at Riverside Community Church in Hammersmith.

Yours sincerely
Declan Heavey