Man (27) found dead at controversial homeless unit in Stonehouse

Nov 24 2011 by Chris Clements, Hamilton Advertiser

A MAN was found dead last weekend at a homeless unit in Stonehouse which is at the centre of controversy.

On Sunday afternoon, the body of a 27-year-old homeless man – who has not been named – was found in the Danmore House facility, at The Cross.

A Strathclyde Police spokesman said that, while there appeared to be no suspicious circumstances, a post mortem will be held this week. Next of kin have also been notified.

News of the death came as Stonehouse Community Council met this week to discuss ongoing concerns they have about the unit.

Villagers are fed-up with anti-social behaviour apparently being caused by residents of Danmore House.

Issues include an increase in begging outside local shops and verbal abuse.

Although the facility is privately-owned, South Lanarkshire Council use it as short-stay temporary accommodation for homeless people in the county.

Stonehouse councillor Graeme Campbell slammed the council’s decision to use the facility, stating that the village was being used as a “dumping ground” for South Lanarkshire’s “undesirables”.

“I’ve called for this unit’s closure on a number of occasions,” he explained, “but the council have refused to stop using it repeatedly.

“The community are sick and tired of undesirables from places like Rutherglen and Cambuslang being dumped here because it is cheap. I know not all of the people housed at Danmore are bad, and there are some genuinely unfortunate and sad cases.

“But too many of them are there because they have alcohol or drug problems.”

Councillor Campbell went on to state he believes Stonehouse has no support network for homeless people or drug addicts.

“The whole practice of placing them in a rural environment disgusts me. It is a cost-cutting exercise.

“Stonehouse is a small village and is not suited to meet the special needs of homeless people from the city. There is no support network here.”

He added: “It is regrettable someone has died at Danmore House. I don’t know anything about the poor guy and I wouldn’t like to draw any conclusions before a post mortem.”

James Lowe, chairman of the Murray Drive Residents Association, said villagers believe many Danmore House residents had either a drug or alcohol problem which required a better support system.

Mr Lowe continued: “The council assured us if any tenant required special prescriptions, they would be transported back daily to their home towns rather than put our local GPs and the pharmacy under pressure. We found that a few residents from Danmore attended the pharmacy.

“We were informed staff had refused to serve some of them due to their aggressive manner.”

He added: “Condolences to the family of the young man who died there on Sunday.

“However, it is my opinion that Stonehouse is not the proper location for such a facility.”

A spokesman for the council said: “While the council regret the sudden death of the resident last week, there is no evidence it was connected to their stay at the facility and, as such, we will continue to use Danmore House as temporary accommodation when required.”