Judge throws out council bid to jail Manchester homeless camp dwellers

Sat Oct 3 00:00:35 BST 2015

Manchester Victory!: Councils bid to jail people 
living in homeless camps thrown out by judge

----------
Posted on Oct 1st, 2015 in 
<http://streetskitchen.co.uk/http://streetskitchen.co.uk/?cat=22>Street News
  Today justice has been served. We have said 
all along that we are not protesting, all we are 
trying to do is live. The council were trying to 
send us to prison for being homeless. It is not right.
[]
http://streetskitchen.co.uk/?p=3303
Wesley Dove, Michael Soughlan, Ross Irving and 
Nathan Carrey outside Manchesters Civil Justice Centre after the hearing
A legal bid to jail people living in homeless 
camps across Manchester has been thrown out by a 
judge as we previously reported 
<http://streetskitchen.co.uk/http://streetskitchen.co.uk/?p=3267>here
In what is thought to be a legal first, the 
council had issued proceedings against seven 
individuals for 
<http://streetskitchen.co.uk/http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/manchesters-homeless-protest-camp-banned-9761876>breaching 
a city centre-wide injunction banning people from 
erecting tents to protest against the authoritys homeless policy.
The potential penalty for a breach is up to two 
years in prison or a £5,000 fine.
But at a hearing at Manchesters Civil Justice 
Centre, Judge Allan Gore said the way the council 
had presented its case was fundamentally defective,
He said that it did not produce evidence of when 
or where certain defendants had breached the 
order, or proof that some of them had even seen the injunction.
VIEW GALLERY
[]

Dismissing the councils case, he said: There is 
no dates, descriptions of behaviour or 
identification of which allegations are made against which defendant.
That is a fundamentally misconceived and 
inappropriate way to advance criminal 
proceedings, where the council seeks that the 
court orders to commit people to prison.
The failure to comply with the procedural 
directions and court order are so serious that 
the only proper course for me to adopt is to strike out this application.
He also said the council must foot the bill for 
the defendants legal costs in the case, which 
could amount to many thousands of pounds.
Town hall bosses had applied for the city-wide 
injunction after a series of previous eviction 
notices prompted the homeless camps 
<http://streetskitchen.co.uk/http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/homeless-refuge-built-under-mancunian-10019812>move 
on to different places in the city.
  Since it was granted, possession orders have 
also been granted for land on King Street in the 
city centre and at the site of The Ark homeless 
shelter  
<http://streetskitchen.co.uk/http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/recap-scuffles-break-out-homeless-10081495>where 
members of the camp clashed with bailiffs while 
being forcibly evicted a fortnight ago.
HOMELESS PROTESTS
[]
Speaking after the hearing, Wesley Dove, who was 
named as a defendant in the case, said: Today 
justice has been served. We have said all along 
that we are not protesting, all we are trying to 
do is live. The council were trying to send us to 
prison for being homeless. It is not right.
He said: The degree of incompetence in making 
this application by Manchester councils legal 
team is breathtaking, it beggars belief. My 
clients were petrified that they could be going 
to jail simply for living in a tent. I would have 
expected Manchester council to have done have 
done their job properly. The application was so 
fundamentally flawed it didnt even get off the ground.
The application to commit was dismissed on 
procedural grounds and my clients are content 
with the outcome of todays hearing. However the 
injunction remains in force, which means that the 
council are still able to apply to commit them to prison again.
Speaking after the decision, Coun Nigel Murphy, 
Manchester City Councils executive member for 
neighbourhoods, said: Our application was 
rejected today due to technical issues, but the 
injunction remains in place. Were now working 
with our partners to develop our strategy around 
homelessness in the city, as we remain committed 
to addressing the needs of homeless people in the city.

<http://streetskitchen.co.uk/http://streetskitchen.co.uk/?page_id=1137>World 
Homeless (Action) Day 10th October

Working in partnership with many grass-root groups across the UK and beyond..
We receive no funding and rely on your support to 
continue to develop Street Kitchens across the UK 
and provide vital information for our streets.
Embedded image permalink

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://mailman.gn.apc.org/mailman/private/diggers350/attachments/20151003/2b30e4b0/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: application/x-ygp-stripped
Size: 250 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <https://mailman.gn.apc.org/mailman/private/diggers350/attachments/20151003/2b30e4b0/attachment.bin>