Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Homeless deaths up by 24%
Victims even perish on doorstep of PM who vowed to fight ‘burning injustices’
THE number of homeless people dying on UK streets has soared by a quarter in the past five years.
Office for National Statistics data showed 597 died in 2017 in England and Wales – a rise of 24% since 2013.
The shameful stats came as it emerged the second rough sleeper of the year died on the doorsteps of Parliament.
Friends said Hungarian Gyula Remes, 43, was a dad-of-two who was awaiting his first pay packet as a chef ’s assistant.
He is understood to have taken the drug Spice before being found by police at 11.30pm on Tuesday. He died hours later in hospital. Yesterday’s statistics estimated 482 homeless people died in 2013, with the figure rising every year.
Labour MP Paula Sherriff said: “It makes me sick. The Prime Minister promised to tackle burning injustices.
“What bigger burning injustice could there be than in 2018 people not just living on the street but the number going up and up and up. The Government needs to wake up and realise the damage their policies are doing.”
Leading homeless charity Crisis called it a “national tragedy”.
Chief Executive Jon Sparkes added: “Behind these statistics are human beings whose families will be coming to terms with their loss. This has to change.”
The figures cover people sleeping