Activists blame man's death on anti-squatting MP's law

[Tony Gosling]

Activists blame man's death on anti-squatting MP's law
Actually folks it's Ken Clarke's law & Weatherley is providing 'cover' - ed.
Sunday 03 March 2013 - by Rory MacKinnon
http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/news/content/view/full/130125
Anti-squatting MP Mike Weatherley is "personally 
responsible" for a Kent man's death outside an 
empty home, a provocative new website has alleged.
The Tory MP for Hove and Portslade became the 
focus of visceral anger this weekend after 
homeless man Daniel Gauntlett froze to death on 
the porch of a derelict bungalow in Aylesford.
Mr Gauntlett, 35, was found dead of hypothermia 
last Sunday morning following temperatures of -2°C.
The home in Hermitage Lane was empty and slated 
for demolition but police acting on new 
anti-squatting legislation had previously stopped him from entering.
The Bill, which was proposed by Mr Weatherley and 
signed into law last year, made it a criminal 
offence to squat in a residential property - 
meaning police could immediately evict and arrest Mr Gauntlett.
The MP could not be reached for comment today, 
but the creator of anonymous website Is Mike 
Weatherley Dead Yet? pulled no punches.
"[The] situation of homeless people is already 
desperate. Mike Weatherley is personally 
responsible for making it worse," they told the Morning Star.
"I hope he remembers that every time he tries to go to sleep."
Figures released by Kent's local authorities in 
January found an estimated 108 rough sleepers in 
the county every night last year.
But campaigners say the problem is national.
Official figures last month showed a 6 per cent 
rise in the number of rough sleepers across 
England and Wales, with homeless charity Crisis 
warning benefit cuts would drive the deathtoll even higher.

Friends pay tribute to homeless woman killed by falling tree in Exeter
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/nov/29/tribute-homeless-woman-tree-exeter
Michelle Conroy, 21, died when spruce tree she 
was camping under near city centre fell on her tent at height of storms
Steven Morris - guardian.co.uk, Thursday 29 November 2012 11.48 GMT
A rough sleeper who was killed when a tree fell 
on her tent in Exeter, at the height of last 
week's storms has been named as 21-year-old Michelle Conroy.

Emacs!


Friends paid tribute to Conroy as a sweet and 
caring person who struggled to find a place in 
conventional, settled society. Some who work with 
homeless people said the tragedy highlighted the 
problem of an increasing number of people living in desperate circumstances.
Conroy was trapped when a spruce tree she was 
camping under near the city centre fell on to her 
tent just before midnight on Saturday as strong 
winds and driving rain swept across the 
south-west of England. She was freed and taken to 
hospital but could not be saved. Two men believed 
to have been in or near the tent were injured but 
released from hospital after treatment.
There was a delay in identifying the woman as 
police traced her next of kin. They are 
understood to live away from the area and are due 
to travel to Exeter to formally identify her on 
Friday. Friends and those who worked with her are 
certain that the woman who died was Conroy.
The Rev Canon Anna Norman-Walker, a diocesan 
missioner at Exeter Cathedral, said Conroy was a 
regular visitor to a weekly Friday night cafe run 
by the church for homeless and vulnerably housed 
people. She said: "Michelle had been coming to us 
for over a year. She was a lovely, polite girl, 
always well turned out with her hair brushed back 
in a ponytail. You wouldn't know she was homeless if you bumped into her."
She said many of the cafe's clients had addiction 
problems or mental health issues. Conroy had 
neither and had never been seen drinking anything 
but soft drinks. "We called her the orange squash 
girl," she said. "She may have had issues with 
things like isolation. She was not able to get a 
foothold on the social ladder. She was a lonely 
soul who simply couldn't sustain an independent life."
Norman-Walker said she understood that Conroy had 
spent much of her childhood in foster care. In 
recent years Conroy had spent time "sofa surfing" 
at friends' houses and living in her tent. She 
had probably been camping beneath the spruce tree 
because it was a well-hidden spot. "The street 
community were her family, friends and support network," Norman-Walker said.

Emacs!


Exeter has no overnight drop-in hostel where 
people can turn up casually and seek shelter. 
There are two hostels, but clients have to 
register and be in at a certain time, which does not suit all.
The charity St Petrock's opens its doors for 
rough sleepers when temperatures go below 
freezing – it is inviting people in on Thursday 
night because cold weather has hit the west 
country. It said about 40 people were sleeping 
rough in Exeter, and it had seen an increasing number of young women.
Ben Bradshaw, the Labour MP for Exeter, has 
claimed that the amount of money given by central 
government to Devon to support homelessness was 
reduced by 12% and was not ringfenced, meaning 
the county council could spend the money as it wished.
Friends paid tribute to Conroy in the Exeter 
Express and Echo. Rachael Smith, who said she was 
in foster care with Conroy when they were about 
14, described her as "such a caring, lovely 
person", adding: "If you had any problems, you 
could talk to her, she was so sweet. She didn't 
do drugs or alcohol – she wasn't that sort of 
person. I don't know why it happened to her. It's absolutely devastating."
It is understood that Conroy had stayed in a 
hostel for a while but chose to leave. It is also 
believed that a few days before the tragedy 
Conroy and those she was camping with had been 
advised that the spot was not safe, but decided to stay.


Death of homeless man blamed on anti-squatting laws
http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2013/03/death-homeless-man-blamed-anti-squatting-laws
Daniel Gauntlett froze to death last weekend on 
the doorstep of an empty bungalow.
By Alex Hern Published 04 March 2013 15:49
A homeless man in Aylesford, Kent, froze to death 
last weekend on the doorstep of an empty 
bungalow, according to Kent Online. 
Thirty-five-year-old Daniel Gauntlett had 
previously had trouble with the police when he 
tried to break into the abandoned building for 
shelter, and apparently took the decision to stay 
outside for the night, risking his safety to stay on the right side of the law.
Derek Bailey, 80, who lives next door, said Mr 
Gauntlett had not appeared to be in ill health.
"They took him up to the hospital about a 
fortnight before when they'd found him and social 
workers got involved," said Mr Bailey.
"It was just the bitter weather. I know a lot 
about cold weather because I was in the Canadian 
army. I've known it drop to minus 70 but the 
trouble with this country is the dampness."
The news has been widely linked to recent 
anti-squatting legislation, after a bill signed 
into law last year made squatting on residential 
property a criminal act. The Morning Star's Rory 
MacKinnon reports about the site "Is Mike 
Weatherley Dead Yet?" which places direct blame 
for Gauntlett's death on Tory MP Mike Weatherley, 
who proposed the legislation to the commons. MacKinnon writes:
The Bill, which was proposed by Mr Weatherley and 
signed into law last year, made it a criminal 
offence to squat in a residential property - 
meaning police could immediately evict and arrest 
Mr Gauntlett. The MP could not be reached for 
comment today, but the creator of anonymous 
website Is Mike Weatherley Dead Yet? pulled no punches.
"[The] situation of homeless people is already 
desperate. Mike Weatherley is personally 
responsible for making it worse," they told the 
Morning Star. "I hope he remembers that every time he tries to go to sleep."
Weatherley's legislation sparked widespread 
protest, with much of the objection focusing on 
the fact that squatting was often the least-worst 
outcome for someone on the verge of homelessness. 
While a working housing system wouldn't need to 
allow squatting, we clearly do not have a working 
housing system. Charities warned that 
criminalising squatting would lead to an increase 
in homelessness, and the government proceeded 
anyway, with Grant Shapps, then the housing minister, saying:
We're tipping the scales of justice back in 
favour of the homeowner and making the law 
crystal clear: entering a property with the 
intention of squatting will be a criminal offence.
That crystal clarity may have been responsible 
for Daniel Gauntlett taking the risk that ultimately cost him his life.


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