Dying unnoticed in Britain

News of a 35 year old man found dead on Thursday outside a boarded up, unoccupied bungalow in Aylesford, Kent should come as no surprise. He was the second homeless man to die in the town that week. However, the location of Daniel Gauntlett’s death gave an extra poignancy. Inevitably, life will throw up this kind of crass symbolism too unsubtle for art. He had previously tried to break into this bungalow, the police had been called, and so, after whatever threats and treatment that they had given him, he slept outside this unused home and froze to death. The symbolism is unsubtle perhaps, but his death is no coincidence. Rough sleeping is a dangerous thing to do, and numbers doing so are on the up – according to different figures, by 20, 30 or 40% in only a couple of years (see Crisis Website)– housing is an ever increasing problem, empty houses remain unfilled, eventually someone is going to die within sight of what could have saved her/him.