Rough Sleepers Deserve Sympathy – But the Law Has Teeth If They Misbehave

30/04/2018


Homeless rough sleepers are a symptom of social inequality and a mark of society’s failure to provide for some of its most vulnerable members. However, as one High Court case showed, judges have a panoply of powers to protect property and business owners against those of them that misbehave.

The case concerned a couple who had been frequently seen sleeping rough in a city centre shopping arcade. They were alleged to have engaged in fighting, taking and selling drugs, sexual intercourse in public, swearing at local residents, aggressive begging and urinating and defecating in public areas.

When business owners had asked them to move so they could open up in the morning, they were said to have refused to budge. Having received numerous complaints, the local authority launched proceedings on the basis that their persistent misbehaviour was having a detrimental impact on local residents, businesses and their customers.

In granting an interim injunction, the Court expressed immense sympathy for those who have lost their homes and who are forced to sleep on the streets. However, if the complaints against the couple were justified, their behaviour had been totally and utterly unacceptable. The injunction banned the couple from the shopping arcade for a year and the Court warned that breach of the order could result in arrest.

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