Homeless man found dead by Commons was a Portuguese ex-model
A HOMELESS man found dead yards from the Houses of Parliament was a former model from Lisbon.
His body was discovered in an underpass at Westminster Tube station shortly after 7.30am on Wednesday. The tragedy – so near to the corridors of power – has highlighted the issue of homelessness.
The Connection at St Martin’s, which provides shelter for rough sleepers, said the man had been staying in its emergency night centre for some time.
He was being helped to find work and had applied for a job as a waiter last week. Despite having ‘ complex circumstances’, the charity said he enjoyed singing and regularly attended yoga classes.
‘Everyone who is homeless is someone’s son or brother or dad,’ said Connection chief executive Pam Orchard. ‘ He had strengths, talents and skills but he also had problems and things went very wrong for him. The support shown by the wider public for him and his situation has been very moving.’
John Ryan, who has been homeless for 12 months, said he knew the dead man. ‘He seemed like a good lad,’ he said. ‘ Like most of us he kept to himself but he was friendly when I saw him at the Connection. They really seemed to help him out.
‘I knew him as “Marcelo” but we tend to change our names a bit depending on who we speak to. I don’t think he died from drugs. It was the cold.’
Reverend Richard Carter, of St Martin-in-the-Fields church, said a memorial service would be held in the coming days. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was among those who sent flowers to the spot where the man, who Portuguese officials said was only 35, was found.
A card left near the Tube station entrance read: ‘This should never have happened. As a country we must stop walking by. Rest in peace. Jeremy Corbyn.’ He later wrote on Twitter: ‘I’ve just been told about the death of a rough sleeper right by the entrance to Parliament. The powerful can’t carry on walking by on the other side while people don’t have a home to call their own. It’s time all MPs took up this moral challenge and properly housed everyone.’
Labour education spokesman Angela Rayner tweeted: ‘Whatever the circumstances it’s a terrible tragedy that somebody ends their days like this, the Government must do more to combat homelessness.’
Her fellow Labour MP Neil Coyle said: ‘What an appalling indictment of Government failure. When a homeless man dies on the Government’s doorstep, ministers must stop ignoring the problem and commit to end rough sleeping.’
According to the most recent statistics, there were 4,751 rough sleepers in England at the end of last year, an increase of 15 per cent on 2016. Almost a quarter were in London.
According to the report, 16 per cent were EU nationals and another 4 per cent were from outside the EU.
Scotland Yard said the man’s death was being treated as unexplained, but not suspicious. Westminster Coroner’s Court was unable to provide details regarding an inquest.
‘Stop ignoring this problem’