‘Where am I going to go with the kids?’ Mum-of-three left homeless after reporting threats to police
As mother-of-three Danielle pushes two prams down the street in south London, her only thought is where will they all sleep tonight?
The 21-year-old, whose children are all under the age of five, had a council house in Southwark but had to move out because she faced threats of violence.
“I didn’t know that going to the police would end up with me being homeless,” she says.
Heartbroken and panicking, with nowhere else to go, Danielle is in a park with her three children – two daughters, aged one and four, and her two-year-old son.
“I’m so sorry, I wish this could all be better,” she tells them. Her eldest clutches a plastic toy and asks when they are going home.
“We don’t have a home anymore,” Danielle replies. She can’t hide the truth from her any longer.
Danielle, who has long dark hair and is wearing a puffer jacket, is pacing, her mobile phone pressed to her ear, making a series of desperate phone calls, pleading for help.
“Where am I going to go with the kids,” she asks a housing officer. “I have nowhere to go.”
At this point it’s around 3pm and council offices will soon be closing. As her phone dies, Danielle, now sitting on a bench, her eldest daughter comforting her siblings in their buggies, breaks down in tears.
Her story exemplifies a national housing crisis where currently more than 150,000 children in England are living in temporary accommodation.
It is hard to imagine someone more vulnerable; a 21-year-old, at risk of violence, a care leaver herself, mother-of-three. If she’s fallen through the net, then who is it catching?
Initially, Southwark council paid for her to have temporary accommodation elsewhere.
But things changed when police informed them it was too dangerous for her to come back to the borough.
“To sit there and tell a four-year-old little girl we can’t go home because we don’t have a home, that’s very upsetting as a mum because I brought her into this world to love her, protect her, to give her a home, and me being a mum telling her I can’t do that right now, it breaks my heart, but I know it’s not my fault,” she tells Sky News.
“Last Tuesday, I got a call to say they could no longer fund my accommodation because the police said it’s no longer safe to return back to Southwark, so they don’t owe me a duty of care.”
The council emailed her a letter which implied she was being made homeless for her own protection. The letter instructed her to present herself to another “local authority homeless person unit to seek rehousing outside of Southwark,” it said. “This is on the grounds of personal protection for you and your children.”
The letter, dated 30 September, explained her current accommodation would terminate on 9 October.
But, when Danielle approached another council, they wanted more details from Southwark. In the meantime, her landlord said Southwark had stopped paying, so he evicted her and changed the locks.
“We are just going around in a loop and in the meantime me and my children are homeless, and nobody seems to care,” she told us when we found her on 10 October.
“They are not protecting me or my children, they’ve put us at an even more high risk, but they don’t seem to acknowledge that.”
As we sit on the park bench together, a Southwark housing officer calls confirming that, despite her being on the streets, they would not extend the temporary accommodation. The person on the phone says it was a management decision.
At this point, we call Southwark’s press office and get a very different tone and a sense that the situation isn’t acceptable.
After an anxious wait, by late afternoon Danielle is told she can return to her temporary accommodation.
But while Danielle was on the streets, she took her child for a routine vaccination and was flagged with children’s social services, which adds to her worries.
“I know I am a good mum,” she says. “A doctor might have thought my nails were dirty or I didn’t look like a normal person, but she has to understand, I had nowhere to go that day.
“I had no keys, nowhere to live. I was living out of a black bag in my grandad’s shed. So, what do you expect?”
In a statement, councillor Sarah King from Southwark told us: “This has been a very distressing situation for Danielle and her children, and I hope that she is at least relieved to be in safe accommodation now. We will be working to resolve her housing situation permanently and continue to support her until that happens.”
The council she was applying to told us they believed the issue was now being dealt with by Southwark.
Read more:
Number of children in temporary accommodation hits record high
Temporary housing spending for homeless people soars in London
Housing lawyer Simeon Wilmore told Sky he’s come across this kind of thing “many times” and believes both councils have behaved badly.
“Southwark should have been in contact with the receiving party or receiving local authority and it should be more managed and structured, and she should be at the centre of the decision making,” he said.
“If they have reason to believe she may be eligible for priority needs then the duty of care kicks in. They must accommodate.”
The problem is councils have run out of homes. In Southwark alone 17,700 people are on the borough’s waiting list, nearly treble the figure over five years ago.
On average councils spend 1% of their budget on temporary accommodation, but research by Sky News has found 30 councils spend 10% or more, with several spending over 20% of their overall budgets on homelessness. This is council money going to private landlords.
Adam Hugg, head of housing at the Local Government Association, says the numbers of people needing support “are going through the roof” and the lack of available homes “creates a real challenge”.
He says there is a need for long-term investment to build more council houses as well as reform to housing benefit to make sure more people can be kept in their homes.
Danielle has few home comforts in her temporary flat, which has plain white walls and a TV on the floor. Her wish is for a place she can make her own and paint her daughter’s bedroom walls pink.
She has Halloween decorations on a shelf, while in a corner of the living room there is a long box containing a Christmas tree. On top, there is a child’s yet-to-be-filled-out wish list for Father Christmas, while a pack of red and white baubles and a can of snow spray sit nearby.
“These are all my little Christmas bits I’m going to do with the kids when we eventually have a home,” Danielle says, but she still has no idea when that might be.
“They have told me I’m not going to be here for Christmas,” she says. “So, I don’t know where I’ll be. I just hope it’s not on the street.”
It seems the housing crisis has reached a point where even extreme vulnerability is no guarantee of help.
Councils want more secure longer-term government funding so they can build more homes, but with more children than ever living in temporary accommodation, this is a chronic national problem that will take more than one Christmas to solve.
UK
British tourist who fell ill from methanol poisoning dies after ‘free shots’ giveaway in Laos resort
A British tourist being treated after a suspected mass methanol poisoning in Laos has died, according to UK officials.
Simone White, 28, from Orpington, Kent, fell ill after reportedly drinking “free shots” from a local bar in Vang Vieng – a resort popular with backpackers.
Four people had already died following the suspected poisonings – an Australian named Bianca Jones, 19, from Melbourne, as well as two Danish women in their 20s and a 56-year-old US citizen.
They are believed to have consumed drinks tainted with methanol, which is sometimes added to mixed drinks as a cheaper alternative to alcohol, but can cause severe poisoning or death.
“We are supporting the family of a British woman who has died in Laos, and we are in contact with the local authorities,” the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said in a statement.
The FCDO said it was also providing consular assistance to other British nationals hospitalised in the incident, as well as their families.
Bianca Jones, a 19-year-old from Australia, also died
Explained:
What is methanol, how does it end up in alcoholic drinks, and how can you avoid it?
Ms White was an associate lawyer specialising in intellectual property and technology and worked at the London office of the American law firm Squire Patton Boggs.
Her work involved general commercial matters, and contentious and non-contentious intellectual property law issues, according to the firm’s website.
Bethany Clarke, a friend of Ms White and a healthcare worker, also from Orpington, said a group of six people had been taken to hospital after drinking from the same bar.
She posted on a Laos Backpacking Facebook group to warn other travellers after the group fell ill.
“Urgent – please avoid all local spirits. Our group stayed in Vang Vieng and we drank free shots offered by one of the bars,” she wrote.
“Just avoid them as so not worth it. Six of us who drank from the same place are in hospital currently with methanol poisoning.”
‘Every parent’s very worst fear’
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed to his country’s parliament that 19-year-old Bianca Jones had died after being evacuated to a Thai hospital from Vang Vieng.
Thai authorities confirmed that Jones had died of “brain swelling due to high levels of methanol found in her system”.
Her friend Holly Bowles, also 19, remains in hospital in neighbouring Thailand, Mr Albanese said.
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Laos methanol poisonings – what we know
Australian officials said “several foreign nationals” had also been victims of methanol poisoning
“This is every parent’s very worst fear and a nightmare that no one should have to endure,” Mr Albanese said.
“We also take this moment to say that we’re thinking of Bianca’s friend Holly Bowles who is fighting for her life.”
‘Her incredible spirit touched so many lives’
In a statement to the Melbourne Herald Sun newspaper, Ms Jones’ family paid tribute to her.
“She was surrounded by love, and we are comforted by the knowledge that her incredible spirit touched so many lives during her time with us,” the family wrote.
“We want to express our deepest gratitude for the overwhelming support, love, and prayers we’ve received from across Australia.”
The US State Department confirmed that an American had also died in Vang Vieng, and Denmark’s Foreign Ministry said two of its citizens had also died in “the incident in Laos”.
Neither would comment directly on a link to methanol poisoning.
The second named storm of the season will bring snow, rain and strong winds to parts of the UK this weekend, according to the Met Office.
Hundreds of schools are closed as the storm, named Bert, sweeps in, bringing freezing temperatures and snow over the weekend.
Wind gusts of up to 70mph are expected in some areas as well as the potential of flooding and travel disruption.
Heavy snowfall could bring further disruption to parts of the country while heavy rain is also likely over the weekend, the Met Office added.
Snowy conditions, in the village of Goathland, North York Moors National Park.
Pic: PA
Parts of southwest England including Plymouth and Exeter are under a yellow warning for snow until 3pm today, with 5-10cm predicted in higher parts of Dartmoor.
Wintry showers will continue in different parts of the UK throughout Thursday and Friday, amid warnings of snow and ice for much of Scotland, northern England and parts of western and eastern England and Wales between midday today and 10am tomorrow.
How Storm Bert is set to impact the UK this weekend. Pic: Met Office
Met Office chief meteorologist Matthew Lehnert said: “A northerly airflow will continue to feed snow showers into Scotland over the next few days, with this reaching lower levels at times and bringing the potential for some travel disruption.
“Overnight temperatures will drop below zero fairly widely over the next few days, which has resulted in some ice warnings, with further warnings likely through this week.”
More than 114 schools are shut in the Highland Council area today due to snow, including Inverness Royal Academy where pupils were told their prelim exams planned for the day would be rescheduled.
Almost 40 schools in Aberdeenshire are also shut while many others had delayed openings, and in Moray around 12 were closed and others opened late.
It comes after more than 100 schools or nurseries were closed in Scotland yesterday because of the weather.
Commuters dressed in warm clothes walk over Westminster Bridge.
Pic: Reuters
South of the border, 89 schools were shut in Devon today, 18 in Dorset and 60 in Cornwall, while in Wales around 10 were closed in Conwy, 18 in Denbighshire and two in Wrexham.
As Storm Bert hits the UK, areas where warnings are in place in the south and west are likely to be impacted by heavy rain on Saturday and Sunday.
Between 50-75 mm of rainfall is expected there on the weekend, while Wales and southwest England could see more than 100mm.
There is already a yellow warning for heavy snow on Saturday followed by a “rapid thaw” and rain on Saturday night in northeast and northwest England, the West Midlands, Yorkshire, and much of Scotland.
Met Office Deputy Chief Meteorologist, Dan Holley, said: “Storm Bert marks a shift to much milder air and wintry hazards will gradually diminish through the weekend, but heavy snowfall is expected across parts of northern England and Scotland for a time on Saturday, especially over higher ground, and warnings are in place.”
A man has been found guilty of murdering his “best friend” on Christmas Eve.
A jury of 10 men and two women heard Dylan Thomas, 24, killed William Bush, 23, in a “frenzied attack” in the Llandaff area of Cardiff last year.
Thomas had previously pleaded guilty to manslaughter by diminished responsibility but denied Mr Bush’s murder.
A trial at Cardiff Crown Court heard Thomas attacked Mr Bush “from behind” in his bedroom after he entered through the kitchen at the property they shared, owned by the defendant’s grandparents.
During the “sustained attack” Mr Bush “fled for his life” down two flights of stairs and onto the patio, the trial heard.
William Bush. Pic: South Wales Police
Mr Bush sustained 37 stab wounds in total, including 21 to the neck.
His cause of death was given as “multiple stab wounds to the neck and trunk”.
The defendant, who was wearing a blue t-shirt, attended the hearing via video link from a secure hospital.
The jury returned a unanimous verdict on Thursday afternoon after just over three hours of deliberation.
Thomas, who was suffering from schizophrenia, had initially claimed he was acting in self-defence.
‘Clear thinking’
The court heard how Mr Bush was Thomas’s “only known real friend”.
During the trial, it was also heard how Thomas had been arrested “for trying to climb into Buckingham Palace” some weeks previously.
He also wrote to Elon Musk telling him he believed he had the ability to harness gravity.
The defendant was staying with his grandmother in Rhoose, the Vale of Glamorgan, on the night before the attack.
In the early hours of Christmas Eve, the jury heard Thomas had carried out an online search for the “anatomy of the neck”.
Thomas, who could not drive, enquired about getting an Uber to Tŷ Matthew in Llandaff at 3.31am.
Later that morning, his grandmother agreed to take him to the house after he told her he “wanted to walk the dog” and they left her home in Rhoose at 10.41am.
He had sent several messages to Mr Bush in the hours before the attack in which he said he needed to see him before Mr Bush went home to Brecon to spend Christmas with his family.
The prosecution argued there was “clear thinking on the part of Dylan Thomas”.
“This was a frenzied attack where Mr Thomas could only have had one intention and that was to kill Mr Bush,” said Gregory Bull KC, prosecuting.
Read more from Sky News:
Storm Bert to bring 70mph winds to UK
Banana duct-taped to a wall sells for $6.2m
But the defence argued Mr Bush’s schizophrenia lay “at the centre” of the case.
“He didn’t understand, because he was deluded. He believed, for whatever reason, that his best friend was threatening his life,” said defence barrister Orlando Pownall KC.
Thomas will be sentenced on Monday 16 December.
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