EURO LAW HELPS FRED TO VICTORY

26-01-2007

The Stirrer's long-running campaign to get justice for Birmingham pensioner Fred Grove was ultimately successful due to the controversial Human Rights Act according to his lawyer.

It's been claimed that the Act (which incorporates the European Convention on Human Rights) helps criminals and other unsavoury characters get compensation or special treatment.

Well not in this case - it's helped an elderly man escape eviction from the Eastside home he's lived in for more than 40 years despite the forthcoming redevelopment of the area.

Fred's solicitor Alastair Wallace told us: “This is a classic human rights case. You've got a guy who's been living in his house for 41 years and whose wife's family lived in the same street going back to the 19th century.

“The Convention says that the needs of the individual have to be balanced against the wider community interest. There may be cases where houses have to be demolished and people removed but in circumstances like this where the development proposals are unclear it's harder to make that argument.

“What's made it difficult for them in this instance is that Fred's house wouldn't have been demolished.”

Unfortunately, the unique circumstances of Fred's victory don't necessarily mean that other individuals and business fighting the council's compulsory purchase orders will be successful.

There are still around a dozen refuseniks in the area including the family which runs Rosa's Café close to Millennium Point, and their cases will be heard at a public enquiry next month.