Croydon Council was forced into yet another hugely embarrassing court room climbdown this morning, when a group of homelessness campaigners arrived at Croydon County Court following a summons for squatting in a long-disused children’s home in Reedham.
Court protest: demonstrators, including Green councillor Ria Patel (centre) this morning
The presiding judge was unimpressed when he was forced to defer the hearing to April 4 because, according to one eye-witness, “No one seemed to be able to find proof on paper that Croydon Council actually owns the building.”
The judge even asked why the council hadn’t issue an eviction notice back in November and had waited until now.
Such a costly delay in court proceedings over what should have been a routine property matter ought to be doubly embarrassing for the council’s most senior legal official, the hapless Borough Solicitor Stephen Lawrence-Orumwense: before he joined Croydon Council, his previous job was working as an estate agent.
Reclaim Croydon has been providing shelter and support in their Autonomous Winter Shelter on Reedham Park Avenue for the last four months, helping almost 60 people who would otherwise have been forced to sleep rough on the streets.
Home for homeless: Reclaim Croydon has been using the building since November. Croydon Council has been trying to sell it, for £1.25m, since 2021
Having been served with an eviction order, Reclaim Croydon and their supporters organised themselves for this morning’s court appearance.
Which is more than could be said for the highly paid lawyers working for Croydon Council.
A crowd of more than two dozen protesters were outside the court, many of them wearing Jason Perry masks (not a pretty sight) carrying banners and placards.
The Tory Mayor was accused on one placard of being a “Homelessness fascist”.
Homelessness fascist: one of the protestors outside court this morning
During the somewhat curtailed meeting, it was noted by the court that Reclaim Croydon had provided shelter to vulnerable and older people from the streets.
Reclaim Croydon is the same group of anarchist squatters who took over the vacant offices of Brick by Brick on George Street in 2023, until bailiffs smashed in the doors and the group were forced to leave.
It is suggested that the building in Reedham, called Kempfield, has been vacant since at least 2012.
Online sales particulars for the building and its half-an-acre site, placed by the council’s property agents Stiles Harold Williams, show that it has been up for sale since November 2021, with a guide price of £1.25million. So another triumph for Mayor Perry’s “asset disposals strategy”.
Read more: Reclaim Croydon’s free bookshop and café closed by bailiffs
Read more: Welcome to the House of Fun! Squatters claim court victory
Read more: Activists provide shelter to 40 people ignored by council
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