CRHnews - #2-3 Vigil for Rob O'Connor Citizen of Chelmsford

Chelmsford City Council say they offered homeless Rob "accommodation options" Rob O'Conner died on Friday
ByLottie O'Neill Essex Live
08:11, 27 FEB 2018UPDATED08:13, 27 FEB 2018

Chelmsford City Council have said they offered a homeless man found dead in the city centre "accommodation options" before his passing.

He was sleeping in a doorway underneath the shutters of the old Argos site when he was found not breathing on Friday.

Police and paramedics attended the scene, on Springfield Road shortly after 11am, but despite their efforts, Rob O'Conner was pronounced dead at the scene.

Essex Police initially treated his death as unexplained but confirm it is now being treated as not suspicious and a file will be prepared for the coroner.

Chelmsford City Council have released a statement about Rob O'Conner

"Chelmsford City Council was saddened to hear of the passing of Mr Robert O’Conner.The City Council works closely with CHESS and others to relieve homelessness and hardship amongst single adults in Chelmsford and Essex through the provision of support services and temporary accommodation.

"Funded by the City Council, CHESS run the street sleeper outreach service, Winter Sleeping Project and local night shelter service during the winter months, providing rough sleepers with food, drinks, sleeping bags and a bed for the night, normally in one of the local church halls. This provision has been extended to the end of March.

"The Council is committed to reducing the number of individuals street sleeping. In Chelmsford, street sleeping is tackled in a number of different ways with a number of voluntary bodies delivering support and assistance. These include CHESS, Sanctus, The Rucksack Project / Cool to be Kind, Helping Hands, Open Road and the Salvation Army which provide support for homeless people."

Aaron Smith, who has been homeless for a year, found Mr O'Conner's body.

He said: "I was his only friend. We bed down together under the shutters.

"I was all he had. He was ill and had throat cancer. The bad weather didn't help at all and it is picking us off one by one."

Aaron, who is 27, said: "When I found him he had one thin sleeping bag on. Everyone has him wrong."

Ambulance and two police cars at the Argos on Springfield Road
"He was a lovely bloke but because he couldn't speak properly people had him wrong. He was a good and loyal friend."

Councillor Paul Hutchinson, Chelmsford City Council cabinet member for strategic housing, said: “We were saddened to hear of the passing of Mr Robert O’Conner. It is particularly upsetting because accommodation options and multi-agency support continued to be made available to him over a lengthy period of time, to try to assist him, not only to move away from the streets but to enable him to sustain any accommodation provided.

“The City Council is committed to assisting and supporting all of those who, often by no fault of their own, have been rendered homeless. Addressing street sleeping is a challenge but generally people who are new to this are more willing to engage with services and can be helped very quickly.

"We will continue to work with our local homeless charities and their volunteers who do such good work on what is a growing problem throughout the country.”

https://www.essexlive.news/news/chelmsford-city-council-say-offered-1267960

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