Homelessness crisis laid bare after man found living in a clothes bin on Erdington car park

BirminghamWorld

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00:00I left home when I was 16 because Dad kept beating me up.

00:03OK.

00:04And so I couldn't handle that.

00:06Moved in with a girlfriend and a mum.

00:09And got jobs, had various jobs.

00:13Mechanic, bricklaying, plastering.

00:17And then I started...

00:19I didn't start training Class A until I was 31.

00:22I'm 52 now.

00:23I tried the dark first, the heroin.

00:26I didn't realise I had a habit, so I wanted to stop.

00:30About 18 months later,

00:33my wife was pregnant with my son.

00:36I thought, I've got to stop.

00:38So I was in London, back in London.

00:40We were living in Western Superman.

00:42I phoned her up, said, come and get me.

00:44And I kid you not, I had to stop at every lay-by,

00:48every service station to be sick,

00:50and stomach cramps and everything else.

00:52We got home to Western Superman.

00:54I said, look, you have to put a bucket by my bed.

00:57After 10 days, she said, what was that?

00:59I said, that's what you call rat-clucking or ratting,

01:01whatever you want to call it, off the gear.

01:03She said, I didn't realise you had a habit.

01:05I said, neither did I until I went back to London.

01:08And I've dabbled since,

01:12but I haven't had a habit since.

01:15I've come close to it, but I don't take Class A's any more.

01:18So you're totally off heroin?

01:21So would you say that you're dependent on drink?

01:24No, I used to be.

01:27I don't wake up wanting or needing a drink any more,

01:30but it helps me sleep at night.

01:33I actually sleep in a clothing bin behind the church.

01:48Four weeks, five weeks?

01:50Four or five weeks.

01:52Oh, wow.

01:57Oh, wow, it's inside there?

01:59Yep.

02:00No way, it's inside a clothes bin.

02:03Let me move this up.

02:07Show us inside, open it up.

02:13Oh, wow.

02:15That's a lot of clothes.

02:17That's a lot of clothes.

02:19That's a lot of clothes.

02:21That's a lot of clothes.

02:24Oh, wow, so that's where you're at?

02:26Yep.

02:27How long have you been here?

02:29Four or five weeks.

02:30Four or five weeks?

02:31Yeah.

02:32Oh, wow.

02:33What made you think of going into there?

02:36Well, I didn't realise it was open,

02:38so I went to look for some clothes,

02:40and I realised it was open.

02:42Oh, wow.

02:44So is it warm inside?

02:46Yeah, yeah.

02:47Yeah.

02:48It's not dug in or anything.

02:49Okay.

02:51Okay.

02:52And what's it like when it rains in there?

02:54It's waterproof.

02:55Yeah?

02:56Yeah.

02:57Okay, so people are still put clothes in here?

02:59Mm-hmm.

03:00Oh, that's mad.

03:01So you've always got a supply of clothes?

03:03Mm-hmm.

03:04Okay, you're smart, you are.

03:06You're smart.

03:09No way.

03:10So how long do you think that you'll be here?

03:13Well, until this bed comes up in Coventry.

03:15Oh, so you're waiting until it comes in Coventry?

03:17Yeah.

03:18So how long do you reckon?

03:20It might be Monday, but, you know,

03:22what they're doing is waiting for Coventry Council to re-house a bloke.

03:26I'm not running from anything or anybody.

03:28It's just that, you know, I've got a condition called DID,

03:32dissociative identity disorder,

03:34which is a multiple personality disorder,

03:37which means, I mean, the person you're talking to now is my original self.

03:41Okay.

03:42But sometimes somebody else will take over.

03:44Okay.

03:45And, you know, it's all a matter of if I can trust you or not.

03:49Okay.

03:50I mean, my ex-girlfriend said she's met about 97 different idols.

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