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DEATH OF A NOBODY
Rough sleeper dies in squalid shanty after pleas ignored
A CHRISTMAS tragedy unfolded in a hotel car park last Wednesday when a naked homeless man died hours after a pastor who works tirelessly for rough sleepers misjudged his pleas for help.
Medics removed a corpse who fellow rough sleepers identified as John Nichols, a multiple schlerosis sufferer, from a squalid makeshift shanty in the shallow entrance way of the Travelodge Royal Scot hotel in King’s Cross.
Split from his wife Chantelle and on the streets, he had taken to drink and drugs and joined a transient group who have used old cardboard boxes and shabby mattresses to make a concrete ramp their home, his associates said.
His death deepened the fear and revulsion felt by residents in Vernon Rise over the use of the Travelodge car park as a den for rough sleepers and drinkers. The Rev Andrew Smith, pastor at the King’s Cross Baptist Church, a stone’s throw from the den, was the first port of call for John Nichols’ friends when they saw he was ill.
He said he went to check on the sick man but decided not to call an ambulance, a decision he now says was “a bad call”.
“Two of (the rough sleepers) that I know pretty well came to see me. They said: ‘He’s in a bit of distress – would you call an ambulance?’
“But I’m always calling ambulances here. I had called one the week before. If you keep calling ambulances they can get annoyed.”
Mr Smith went to see the sick man but judged him no worse than the many serious cases that attend his thrice-weekly drop-in centres at the church.
“We put him back on the mattress in the recovery position, and he was breathing pretty freely,” he said.
“I told them to report to me on a fairly regular basis if he doesn’t seem to be feeling well.
“An hour or two later there’s a whole crowd of people up there, and the police were there too. They said he had died.”
Mr Smith said he was unsure how the victim’s condition had worsened so rapidly.
He also added that the rough sleepers in the den told him they had a mobile phone with which to call an ambulance themselves.
But asked if he regretted not taking action, he answered “yes”.
“I was very upset about it, naturally. You have to make these decisions, and maybe we made a bad call, there.”
The church is regarded as a beacon of hope to homeless people in King’s Cross, distributing food and succour every day. Mr Smith himself is highly regarded by both neighbours and rough sleepers.
The general manager at the £70 per night Travelodge referred queries to the hotel chain’s head office, but a junior manager acknowledged that the drinkers were bad for business and neighbours.
“We don’t want to put our staff at risk as well,” he said. “We used a hosepipe on the area last time we tried, but that is all we can do. We have called the police time after time but nothing seems to be done.
“The general manager is dealing with it in terms of lighting, cameras, security.”
A Travelodge head office press statement said: “We can confirm that there was an incident and we are currently providing police with any assistance they require. The Royal Scot hotel has had reported problems with vagrants for the last ten days. Hotel staff have taken action to remove the vagrants and Travelodge’s head of security has also discussed the issue with the community police force.
“We are undertaking a comprehensive review of the hotel’s security and are planning to meet local residents to discuss this issue further.”
Rough sleepers were still using the car park on Tuesday night, residents said.
Police from the Clerkenwell Safer Neighbourhoods Team said they were aware of the problem.
A spokesman for St Pancras coroners’ office said there could be no confirmation of identity or cause of death until an inquest opens after Christmas, but Mr Nichols was a well-known figure in the King’s Cross area and he was confidently identified by associates and church workers. Several suggested that he died of an overdose. |
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