A HOMELESS man caused a major alert in Redditch on Monday evening when he climbed into the roof space of the Town Hall before the borough’s monthly full council meeting.
Justin Turner, who said he’s been sofa surfing since September 27 after being evicted by his private landlord, took the extreme action after becoming frustrated at being left homeless.
Mr Turner, aged 44, said he had fallen out with his landlord, who was also his employer.
As a result the landlord had changed the locks on his house while he was out and so he’d lost all his possessions.
“I lost all my stuff and since then I’ve been moving around, staying in people’s garages and sleeping on sofas,” he said.
Mr Turner said he suffered from depression and admitted to a troubled past with drugs and violence, but insisted he was trying to get his life back together.
“I just got so frustrated at losing everything and having nowhere to stay,” he said.
“I had intended to bed down for the night in the roof of the Town Hall but the police talked me down.
“The council offered me a place in a hostel but they might as well kill me as they are full of drugs and I don’t want to go down that road.”
The alarm was raised just before 4.30pm and both the police and fire service attended however the full council meeting went ahead as scheduled.
Councillor Joe Baker (Lab, Greenlands) portfolio holder for community safety and regulatory services said: “I commend the police for their swift response to the matter and keeping the man safe.
“However this just shows the times we are living in when people are so desperate due to the lack of housing to take extreme measures to get their voice heard.
“As a council we sympathise, we have to deal with the results of the mismanagement of housing that this government has put the country in.”
Mr Turner was arrested and taken to Kidderminster police station where he spent a night in the cells. He has been charged with criminal damage to property valued under £5,000 and was released on bail.
