Revealed: over 500 a year. The UK homeless deaths this Tory government refuses to count

Tony Gosling tony at cultureshop.org.uk
Wed Dec 19 00:48:13 GMT 2018 


Revealed: over 500 a year. The UK homeless deaths 
this Tory government refuses to count

http://tlio.org.uk/over-500-a-year-revealed-the-uk-homeless-deaths-this-tory-government-refuses-to-count/
<http://tlio.org.uk/over-500-a-year-revealed-the-uk-homeless-deaths-this-tory-government-refuses-to-count/>19/12/2018 
- <http://tlio.org.uk/author/tony/>TONY GOSLING - 
<http://tlio.org.uk/over-500-a-year-revealed-the-uk-homeless-deaths-this-tory-government-refuses-to-count/#respond>LEAVE 
A COMMENT

The number of homeless deaths tops 500 amid empty government promises

<https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2018-12-17/the-number-of-homeless-deaths-tops-500-amid-empty-government-promises>
[]









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Published December 17 2018 – By 
<https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/profile/maevemcclenaghan>Maeve 
McClenaghan

<https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2018-12-17/the-number-of-homeless-deaths-tops-500-amid-empty-government-promises>https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2018-12-17/the-number-of-homeless-deaths-tops-500-amid-empty-government-promises

The Bureau’s count of people who have died 
homeless in the UK since last winter has now 
passed 500 – days before the Office for National 
Statistics (ONS) is due to produce its first ever count of deaths.

Our year-long investigation, currently stands at 
554 deaths, though that is likely an 
underestimate. Those that died include an 81 
year-old man who was sleeping on the streets, a 
mum of two that died in a night shelter and a 47 
year-old man who died after being tipped into a bin lorry.

The project prompted the ONS to start compiling 
its own figures on homeless deaths in England and 
Wales, which it will release on December 20. 
Scotland and Northern Ireland’s national records 
offices are now also considering similar counts.

In October the government pledged to make sure 
deaths were investigated by local authorities so 
that lessons could be learned. The Bureau’s 
figures are “utterly shocking,” said Housing 
Secretary James Brokenshire, and “it is so 
important that we understand what has caused 
those deaths, [by] actually having serious case reviews.”

However the government has admitted since then 
that it has not offered any extra funding or 
support to councils to help them do this. The 
Bureau has found many local authorities are still 
failing to carry out such reviews, citing lack of 
resources or saying they do not believe the cases 
meet the relevant statutory requirements.
“In one of the world’s richest nations, people 
with nowhere to turn are dying”In Norfolk, where 
at least 10 people have died homeless in the last 
year, the director of Public Health, Dr Louise 
Smith, said there would be no case reviews 
because of the review’s “significant cost and our limited resources”.

Despite the fact five people died in the same 
homeless hostel in one year, Brighton and Hove 
council 
<https://www.brightonandhovenews.org/2018/11/15/formal-review-launched-into-homeless-accommodation-deaths/>said 
that no Safeguarding Adult Reviews would be 
undertaken, because the deaths had not met the 
“statutory criteria”. Redbridge council also echoed this reasoning.

It is crucial that all homeless deaths are 
investigated so that lessons can be learned, said 
Matt Downie, director of policy and external 
affairs at Crisis. “It is disappointing that no 
progress has been made to support local 
authorities to implement this,” he said. “We 
cannot wait any longer, we need to see action now.”

The Bureau’s statistics on deaths were a 
harrowing reminder of how deadly life on the streets could be, he added.

“It’s a failure of the largest magnitude that in 
one of the world’s richest nations, people with 
nowhere to turn are dying. This has to stop and 
the government must put in place a full-scale 
plan to end homelessness once and for all.”

Howard Sinclair, Chief Executive of St Mungo’s, 
went even further and called for specific funding 
for reviews: “We think there is a strong case for 
Government to fund a separate programme outside 
of the Safeguarding Adult Review process to 
ensure every death of someone sleeping rough is 
reviewed. This way we can identify the changes 
needed, at the local and national level, to stop these tragedies,” he said.
[]


2018: A year of deaths

One of the first deaths we recorded in January 
was that of 81-year-old Alan Higginson. The 
octogenarian had been sleeping rough near a John 
Lewis shop in Norwich city centre. Alan died in 
hospital of natural causes. Despite an appeal by 
the police, no family members were found.

Later that same month, 47-year-old Russell Lane 
died from injuries he sustained when the bin he 
was sleeping in was tipped into a lorry. An 
inquest into his death has been postponed.

In February, Polish-born Henrik Bartlomiej was 
found in Watford outside the tent he slept in. 
Chief executive of local charity New Hope, 
Matthew Heasman, said: “We were shocked and 
saddened to learn of Bart’s death, he is missed 
dearly by both service users and staff. It’s 
devastating for someone to lose their life so 
young because of rough sleeping.” An inquest 
found he had died from acute alcohol toxicity.

A spell of very cold weather labelled “the Beast 
from the East” stretched into March, and homeless 
deaths continued. The weather forced former 
quantum physicist Hamid Farahi, who had fled the 
Iraq war, out of the car he lived in and into 
emergency shelter in a local hotel, where he died.

Martin Dines, 56, died in April after suffering a 
prolonged physical attack during which he 
sustained more than 70 injuries. His body was 
found in a stairwell. Two men were convicted of 
murder and a woman was convicted of manslaughter.

Mother of two Anna Raynes died in May aged 28. 
She had spent the night in a shelter after 
sleeping rough in Bristol and Bath. She was 
described as “a very kind person” and “the most amazing mum.”

In June, Tracey Patsalides’ body was found in a 
beach shelter in King Edward’s Parade, 
Eastbourne. A man was later convicted of her 
manslaughter. Friends and well-wishers left 
tributes at the spot but were saddened to see 
them cleared away by street-cleaners. Her friend 
described her as “a lovely lady” saying: “She 
used to light up a room when she walked in, she’d have a smile on her face.”
[]
Anna Raynes died in May aged 28
[]
Tracey Patsalides’ body was found in a beach shelter in Eastbourne

Click here to explore the full project
[]


Big Issue seller Fabian Bayet – known as “the 
Belgian Waffle” for his ability to tell a good 
story – died in July at the age of 48. He was 
much loved in the Midlands town of Stony 
Stratford and in late November a portrait of 
Fabian was unveiled on the town’s high street.

Kawal Singh, 61, came to the UK from India. He 
lost his job and ended up rough sleeping for nine 
years in the Ilford area. He repeatedly asked 
authorities to return him to his family in India 
without success, according to a friend. He died 
on the entrance steps of Redbridge Council in August.

Thirty-two year old Michael Cash, described as a 
“gentle soul” by his aunt, was found dead in a 
Middlesborough cemetery in September. Days 
earlier, a local man Aaron Jones had sprayed red 
paint over him using a water pistol. The story 
shocked the country and Jones was later convicted 
of common assault and criminal damage.

October brought the death of Craig Cunningham, 
who was also known as “Blakey” and was much 
loved. He was in his early 40s when he died in 
hospital. A friend said: “He was always pleasant, 
always good mannered and always very smiley.” A 
local charity worker said: “We will all miss him 
dreadfully, words can’t explain the pain we feel 
when this happens.” A fellow rough sleeper told 
local media Craig used to manage a Kwiksave 
supermarket branch before falling on hard times.

In November, Joanne Jones 44, became the second 
person to die in a homeless hostel in Bath in 
just one week. Workers at the shelter described her death as a “tragedy”.

Earlier this month Lee Jenkinson died in hospital 
with family members at his bedside. He had been 
sleeping rough in Leeds, despite having a council 
flat. Charity Simon on the Streets said: “He was 
a lovely man, well known to services and the public alike. RIP.”
Fabien Bayet
Fabian Bayet was much loved in the town of Stony Stratford
Kawal Singh
Kawal Singh died on the entrance steps of Redbridge Council


Remembering the dead

Across the country, people have been coming 
together to mark the deaths and make sure they are remembered.

In London, an annual memorial service at St 
Martin in the Fields in November heard the names 
of 170 people that had died homeless in the area 
last year. In Long Eaton, local campaigners have 
created a memorial stone with the number of those 
that have died, while in Manchester a candle lit vigil was held last week.

Jacob Quagliozzi is director of Housing Justice, 
the charity that organises the annual memorial in 
St Martin in the Fields. “Each person we remember 
at that service and those the Bureau has 
documented have their own story and represents a 
failure of public policy,” he said. “No one 
should die on the street in Britain in 2018.”

Header image of tents in an underpass in Milton Keynes by Alex Sturrock



























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