Download Issue 61 - The Pavement

The Pavement, May 2011 / 15Visit www.nosecondnightout.org.ukfor moreinformation on the Hub.Garnet Roach• Of course, with a new serviceit’s hard to find the other side ofthe story, so any individuals ororganisations who have experienceof NSNO or the hub, please get intouch – anonymously if preferred– at news@thepavement.org.ukWindfall for man outsidecasinoMario Balotelli, a player forManchester City football club, isthought to have given a roughsleeper £1,000 cash after awinning night in a casino.The star striker, who earns£100,000 a week, is reportedto often give cash to homelesspeople around Manchester, butin mid-April it’s said he gavea large bundle of notes afterwinning thousands in a casino.A ‘source’ told the Sun: “Mariois really generous. He always hands£20 notes to the Big Issue boyswithout even taking the magazine.There’s a guy he always seesaround town with ginger dreadlocksand a beard. He carries hispossessions in two carrier bags.He was outside the club in theearly hours, so Mario handed hima wad of notes after his big win.”The paper doesn’t look at thesecurity risks to an individual ofcarrying such a large amount ofcash, nor at the dangers it couldhave for someone who was adrinker or drug user. What theydo want to know is “do you knowthe tramp who got the cash? Callthe Sun on 020 7782 4035.”StaffHomeless men paid forbeatingsRough sleepers are accepting cashto be videoed being beaten.There is an increasing number ofreports in the American press abouthomeless men accepting moneyfrom websites that show semi-cladwomen brutally striking men.The rough sleepers are reportedlypaid $50 for their pains. Peoplewho watch the videos online pay upto $900 for the perverse footage.Californian newspaper the StPetersburg Times reports that onerough sleeper, George Grayson“followed the recruiters to a StPetersburg townhouse on sevendifferent occasions over the lastfew months, he said, and let fivedifferent women use his bodyand face as a punching bag.”They interviewed a local advocate,who claim he has interviewedand photographs several menwith similar stories and injuries.The website, www.shefights.net, shows films of around 12minutes long of sustained andcontinued beatings of men bywomen. Owner Jeff Williamsdefends the beatings as consensualand is quoted as saying:“These men are crack addicts andwill say anything for money.”Since the beatings werereported, the St Petersburg Timessaid a law firm has offered tofile a suit on behalf of the menagainst the website and thewomen taking part in the films.Rebecca WearnCardiff centre closed dueto bomb threatA homeless centre in Cardiffwas evacuated and searchedby police on 29 March aftera threatening phone call wasreceived relating to the building.Police were called to theHuggard Centre, a day centreand emergency sleeping unit inthe city centre, after a man madethreats related to the centre.Speaking at the time of theincident, the Centre’s chief executiveRichard Edwards said that theman had reported there was abomb in the building and the policehad been called in as a precaution.The police escorted theclients and staff to safety, andcordoned off the building whilethey conducted a search. A 19-year-old man was arrested formalicious communications nearthe centre, the police reported.Edwards said he understoodthat the man was a resident ofthe council-run Tresillian HouseHostel, an organisation whichis temporarily sharing a buildingwith the Huggard Centre.Edwards said that this wasthe first time that the centre hadreceived this kind of security threat,but that they did have evacuationprocedures. In conjunction with theCouncil, they also had emergencyplanning procedures to respond toevents that meant they could notaccess the building for any lengthof time. In this case, the CardiffCentral Library and the Star LeisureCentre helped to accommodatethe Huggard Centre’s clients.Edwards said that the safetyof the clients was foremost in thecentre’s response to the incident.“I am unaware whether therewas any real risk to users of thecentre,” Edwards said. “However,we work with highly vulnerableindividuals, and the safety ofresidents and users of the centrewas paramount at all times. Everymeasure was taken to securetheir immediate and ongoingsafety throughout this incident.”Nicholas Olczak