Two Homeless Men Died On The Streets Of Manchester This Weekend

Two men who died within 24 hours of each other on the streets of Manchester city centre this weekend are both believed to have been homeless.

The body of a middle aged man was discovered on Deansgate just before 9am on Saturday, followed by that of a 60-year-old man on Princess Street at 5am the next morning, reports the Manchester Evening News. Sources said both were known to local homeless charities and are believed by police to have been rough sleepers, although they are not thought to be connected to one another. Neither has so far been formally identified. As yet it remains unclear how the two men died but Greater Manchester Police said the circumstances were not suspicious.

The news comes after the Manchester Evening News revealed a string of homeless deaths on the streets of the city – and in temporary accommodation – had been going unrecorded, with little research into how or why they had died. Their research showed at least one person a month had died on the streets this year. It is likely to be a considerable underestimate.

However following this weekend’s news, Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham confirmed that the region is now setting up its own system to track and investigate such tragedies. He also said that from a week on Thursday, 300 extra beds were being made available for rough sleepers across the conurbation as the nights draw in and temperatures drop.

“It’s truly sad,” he said of this weekend’s deaths. “As I’ve said repeatedly, this is a humanitarian crisis and it’s right there in front of us. I realise it won’t be any comfort to anybody affected by these two very sad incidents, but we are doing everything we can as quickly as we can to improve the support we provide. Moving to that is a massive commitment for Greater Manchester and I think the sad events this weekend show we were right to do so.”

Deputy council leader Sue Murphy, who leads on homelessness for Manchester council, said: “We are saddened to learn of the deaths of two men in Manchester city centre and will work with Greater Manchester Police to establish the facts in these tragic cases. Extensive support is available and pro-actively offered to those in need by our dedicated outreach team and a network of partner agencies on a daily basis. This winter, we will have extensive provision in place for people who sleep rough, which will ensure that more beds and support are available than ever before.”

Rough sleeping remains high on the political agenda for both Manchester council and Andy Burnham, who promised to eliminate it in the region by 2020.