Pigsty

Dec 4 2007 By Graham Fraser

STOMACH-churning photographs have revealed the ‘pigsty’ state of a Blantyre man’s home

Thomas Taggart lives in a private house at 16 Kirkton Avenue, High Blantyre.

The street is full of well-kept houses and gardens. But photographs passed to the Advertiser show the disgusting condition of Mr Taggart’s house.

One photograph shows a kitchen work-top covered with rotting food and milk, while cigarettes and household waste lie strewn around. Another picture shows a discoloured toilet surrounded by junk.

Mr Taggart’s neighbour, Linda Law, has had enough.

She has lived next door to Mr Taggart, whom she believes to be in his 30s, for the past eleven years. He works as a satellite television installer with Virgin Media and, according to his neighbours, is an inward person who never speaks to any of the Kirkton Avenue residents.

When the Advertiser tried to contact Mr Taggart at his house, there was no reply. Repeated attempts to speak to him on the telephone also failed.

Linda Law (55), works at Hamilton’s Mecca Bingo in Douglas Park Retail Park.

She lives in her house at 18 Kirkton Avenue with her 60-year-old husband Thomas, a taxi driver with Hamilton Taxi Owners’ Association, and her 22-year-old son David, an electrical engineering student.

“The Milnes, who stay at Number 14, approached me and said they had problems with insects,” explained Linda. “As I had similar problems, we both thought it was down to the mess in Mr Taggart’s house. We knew there was a mess because of the smell and the fact he never ever takes out rubbish. It’s a pigsty.”

A spokeswoman from South Lanarkshire Council’s housing department confirmed the sequence of events reported by Mrs Law and added: “On October 5, officers hand delivered a letter to number 16 Kirkton Avenue, formally requesting access to view the premises. Four days later, Mr Taggart’s mother let us know she had made cleaning arrangements. We alerted Mrs Law and will continue to monitor the situation.”