WHEN Andrew Horton uploaded to his Facebook page a photo of what
he assumed to be "anti-homeless" studs outside a building in
Southwark (above), he did not expect it to wing its way around the
world within hours.
After spotting the small metal studs in the doorway of 118
Southwark Bridge Road, London, he decided to publish the photo. He
asked: "Anyone seen anything like this before?" It has now been
retweeted 100,000 times, and he has had requests for interviews
from news stations including Sky and the BBC. The story has now
been featured around the world, from the TV news programme Good
Day L.A., in the United States, to the Toowoomba
Chronicle in Australia.
"I want this to be seen not only as socially unacceptable, but
legally unacceptable," Mr Horton, a freelance journalist, said on
Tuesday.
The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has described the studs as
"ugly, self-defeating and stupid" and called on the developer to
remove them.
The leader of Southwark Council, Peter John, said: "Anyone who
is sleeping rough deserves to be treated with compassion and
respect, not spikes; this is why the council has a dedicated
officer working with a number of homeless charities in the borough
to find them shelter and the right support."
On Monday, on Tearfund's blog Rhythms, Mr Horton wrote: "I don't
want this to just go down as a 'Twitter outrage' story, studied by
journalism students across the country. . . If we're serious about
trying to transform this country for the good, then we can start by
looking after our most vulnerable."