A teenage girl, aged 16, has been charged with the murder of a homeless man who was killed in a bin shed in central London. The victim, Anthony Marks, who was 51 years old, was attacked during the early hours of the 10th August on Cromer Street near Kings Cross St Pancras station. The girl from Brixton, south London, cannot be named for legal reasons because of her age. She is due to appear at Croydon Magistrates’ Court soon.
In October, a 17-year-old boy from Dagenham, east London, was charged with Mr Marks’ murder and is expected to be tried next year. The police had earlier said they believed that Mr Marks may have been camping in the area, and investigators had asked for anyone with information to come forward.
This is not the first case of a homeless person being murdered this year. According to a report from the homelessness charity, Crisis, people sleeping rough are 17 times more likely to be victims of violence than the general public. An average of 11 homeless people have been murdered on the streets over the past five years. Crisis Chief Executive, Jon Sparkes, says it’s “tragic” that someone sleeping rough is more likely to be a victim of abuse than anyone else in the country.
The UK government was heavily criticized in August for their emergency plans to house thousands of homeless people in hotels during the pandemic. In addition to the heightened violence, the homeless population have also been more vulnerable to COVID-19, and the government’s response was seen by some as an admission that the UK’s problem with homelessness was more severe than previously thought
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