Islington Tribune - by PETER GRUNER Published: 20 April 2007
We’re not hurting anyone, it’s our pub
SHE lost her job five years ago and, although she swigs from a can of lager, Michele, 52, insists she is not an alcoholic.
This week, the mother-of-five defended the rights of her friends to congregate at Elthorne Park: “We come here because we can’t afford to go to the pub,” she said. “But we don’t intimidate people. We get on with our lives and allow others to get on with theirs.”
The former mental health worker admitted there was an occasional litter problem. “Some of us are better than others at putting things in bins,” she said. “Why shouldn’t we sit on a bencah and have a drink on a sunny afternoon? Why should the police move us on if we are not causing any trouble? It’s very unfair.”