I knew Mr.Donald (aka Derek) Joyce, the man who decided to blow up himself and the bungalow he lived in when he knew that Bailiffs were being sent around to evict him.
I am posting this story here so that the truth of it can start to
ripple out across Cambridgeshire, and I hope that questions will be
asked in the wider community as to why this tragedy occurred, why
nothing was done sooner to deal with what was essentally a very simple
problem to solve.
I am posting this story here so that the truth of it can start to
ripple out across Cambridgeshire, and I hope that questions will be
asked in the wider community as to why this tragedy occurred, why
nothing was done sooner to deal with what was essentally a very simple
problem to solve.
I can tell you that there is far far more to this story than the press
know about it, and I know this because Derek (aka Donald) and myself
had lengthy conversations about his predicament.
1. The local authority reclassified the driveway in front of his
Bungalow as a road, therefore effectively passing the buck to the
Highways Authority. Anyone who has seen the footage on Look East will
realise that this driveway is not intended for vehicle parking, but for
pedestrain access.
2. Despite his pleas and complaints, neighbours continued to park on
this path in front of his Bungalow, therefore limiting mobility chair access to and from his home.
3. He was actually INSTRUCTED on local authority advice to gather
further evidence to prove that there was a problem with neighbours
parking on his path, hence why he was filming and recording the
movements of his neighbours. In doing so, he was actually complying
with this official request.
4. Unfortunately, due to these activities, some neighbours decided to
wage a counter campaign of intimidation against him, so if he was being
seen as a thorn in peoples' sides, it was as a direct response to the
way he was being treated in his own neighbourhood and (ironically) by the powers that be.
5. He tried on one occasion to get a neighbour to testify in court with
regards why they were seen on video parking on his driveway and
indulging in threatening and abusive behaviour (making 'v-signs' to his
camera as they walked away from their car parked on HIS path), and yet
they would deny this later on. Needless to say, they had an excuse for
not appearing at the hearing, claiming that they were ill on the day
of the hearing, and yet Derek claims to have seen them walking past his
window the day after the hearing. Of course, the incident in question can never be proved one way or the other now, as doubtless the video evidence was destroyed in the explosion. We now only have hearsay, so I would not like to
presuppose any more than what I've said here, which is directly from
what Derek told me.
6. I can also further intimate that he had to endure direct harassment from people coming into his front garden, to the point where he installed a camera to try and catch them doing it, as well as regular incidences of knocking on his front door by persons unknown who would run off if he answered it, which doubtless would take time for him to do as he had bad legs and was in a mobility buggy.
7. He also suspected that people within the council itself were giving him bad references whenever he tried to seek alternative accomodation (which he did on numerous occasions in an attempt to escape the situation), even if it was for somewhere out of county. Most likely this could be because they viewed him as a nuisance, due to the number of times he complained about various types of harassment he experienced on a regular basis.
Of course, I cannot substantiate this, just pass it on as he told it to me.
Regardless of whether his behaviour was an appropiate response to his
situation (after all I only know what he told me), the circumstances of his behaviour need to be taken into consideration - if you are outnumbered and cornered, you either attempt to flee or you fight your way out.
He wasn't the kind of man who was capable of fabricating stories - he
was no poet laureate, just an ordinary bloke placed into a difficult
situation, so I have no reason to believe that he was lying to me when recounting these things.
His death was tragic and unneccesary, and could have been
prevented if those with the influence to do something about situations like this had actually bothered to take him seriously instead of passing the buck or
treating him like a social pariah.
As for why he killed himself in such a dramatic way, I geuss it was his
last possible attempt for people to take him seriously, for him to
actually be noticed, and also his way of making sure that he would
never be forgotten by a world he thought didn't give a damn about him
or what he said.
It was also his way of ensuring that those who left him in that
situation would be made culpable, instead of trying to squirm out of
their responsibilities.
In the weeks before his death, was led to believe (rightly or wrongly) that after the 48 days of B&B accomodation was finished, because of the way he was being
perceived as a 'nuisance' by the local authorities, he thought that it
would be extremely difficult if not impossible for him to
find alternative accommodation, because whenever anyone looked up his
references, they would find this black mark on his official records.
In all likelihood, even Housing Associations wouldn't have touched him.
Ultimately he thought there was quite literally nowhere else for him to go after being evicted.
Derek may have had personal issues to deal with as well, however, it's quite clear to me that the system completely and utterly failed him.
His death is a direct consequence of the Blairite confrontational ASBO
litigation mentality, whch condemns people via the police and courts
rather than try to create a dialogue between neighbours and communities
to solve problems.
And remember, this all started because of selfish people parking in his driveway, in itself, a very trivial problem which could have been quickly dealt with by some concilliatory, mediated discussions and agreements between himself and the neighbours, but due to the utter ineptness of the official channels, the situation was allowed to drag on for years and become a total travesty and tragedy.
Ultimately I would go as far as stating for the record that Cambridge City Council has Derek's blood on their hands, due to their extremely poor handling of this situation.
Finally, you have to ask yourself this...
How many more Donald Joyces will it take for us to see this is not the way to solve problems in our communities?
May Derek rest in peace now, because he never found peace in his life.
know about it, and I know this because Derek (aka Donald) and myself
had lengthy conversations about his predicament.
1. The local authority reclassified the driveway in front of his
Bungalow as a road, therefore effectively passing the buck to the
Highways Authority. Anyone who has seen the footage on Look East will
realise that this driveway is not intended for vehicle parking, but for
pedestrain access.
2. Despite his pleas and complaints, neighbours continued to park on
this path in front of his Bungalow, therefore limiting mobility chair access to and from his home.
3. He was actually INSTRUCTED on local authority advice to gather
further evidence to prove that there was a problem with neighbours
parking on his path, hence why he was filming and recording the
movements of his neighbours. In doing so, he was actually complying
with this official request.
4. Unfortunately, due to these activities, some neighbours decided to
wage a counter campaign of intimidation against him, so if he was being
seen as a thorn in peoples' sides, it was as a direct response to the
way he was being treated in his own neighbourhood and (ironically) by the powers that be.
5. He tried on one occasion to get a neighbour to testify in court with
regards why they were seen on video parking on his driveway and
indulging in threatening and abusive behaviour (making 'v-signs' to his
camera as they walked away from their car parked on HIS path), and yet
they would deny this later on. Needless to say, they had an excuse for
not appearing at the hearing, claiming that they were ill on the day
of the hearing, and yet Derek claims to have seen them walking past his
window the day after the hearing. Of course, the incident in question can never be proved one way or the other now, as doubtless the video evidence was destroyed in the explosion. We now only have hearsay, so I would not like to
presuppose any more than what I've said here, which is directly from
what Derek told me.
6. I can also further intimate that he had to endure direct harassment from people coming into his front garden, to the point where he installed a camera to try and catch them doing it, as well as regular incidences of knocking on his front door by persons unknown who would run off if he answered it, which doubtless would take time for him to do as he had bad legs and was in a mobility buggy.
7. He also suspected that people within the council itself were giving him bad references whenever he tried to seek alternative accomodation (which he did on numerous occasions in an attempt to escape the situation), even if it was for somewhere out of county. Most likely this could be because they viewed him as a nuisance, due to the number of times he complained about various types of harassment he experienced on a regular basis.
Of course, I cannot substantiate this, just pass it on as he told it to me.
Regardless of whether his behaviour was an appropiate response to his
situation (after all I only know what he told me), the circumstances of his behaviour need to be taken into consideration - if you are outnumbered and cornered, you either attempt to flee or you fight your way out.
He wasn't the kind of man who was capable of fabricating stories - he
was no poet laureate, just an ordinary bloke placed into a difficult
situation, so I have no reason to believe that he was lying to me when recounting these things.
His death was tragic and unneccesary, and could have been
prevented if those with the influence to do something about situations like this had actually bothered to take him seriously instead of passing the buck or
treating him like a social pariah.
As for why he killed himself in such a dramatic way, I geuss it was his
last possible attempt for people to take him seriously, for him to
actually be noticed, and also his way of making sure that he would
never be forgotten by a world he thought didn't give a damn about him
or what he said.
It was also his way of ensuring that those who left him in that
situation would be made culpable, instead of trying to squirm out of
their responsibilities.
In the weeks before his death, was led to believe (rightly or wrongly) that after the 48 days of B&B accomodation was finished, because of the way he was being
perceived as a 'nuisance' by the local authorities, he thought that it
would be extremely difficult if not impossible for him to
find alternative accommodation, because whenever anyone looked up his
references, they would find this black mark on his official records.
In all likelihood, even Housing Associations wouldn't have touched him.
Ultimately he thought there was quite literally nowhere else for him to go after being evicted.
Derek may have had personal issues to deal with as well, however, it's quite clear to me that the system completely and utterly failed him.
His death is a direct consequence of the Blairite confrontational ASBO
litigation mentality, whch condemns people via the police and courts
rather than try to create a dialogue between neighbours and communities
to solve problems.
And remember, this all started because of selfish people parking in his driveway, in itself, a very trivial problem which could have been quickly dealt with by some concilliatory, mediated discussions and agreements between himself and the neighbours, but due to the utter ineptness of the official channels, the situation was allowed to drag on for years and become a total travesty and tragedy.
Ultimately I would go as far as stating for the record that Cambridge City Council has Derek's blood on their hands, due to their extremely poor handling of this situation.
Finally, you have to ask yourself this...
How many more Donald Joyces will it take for us to see this is not the way to solve problems in our communities?
May Derek rest in peace now, because he never found peace in his life.