Popular homeless man has died
FRIENDLY homeless man Thomas Smythe, who relied on the kindness of strangers as he lived in a freezing bus shelter, has died.
FRIENDLY homeless man Thomas Smythe, who relied on the kindness of strangers as he lived in a freezing bus shelter, has died.Desperate Smythe (46), known as "Ozzie", was often seen shivering in the shelter at The Triangle, in New England, Peterborough.
Kind-hearted locals, businesses and charity workers would often hand him food, blankets and warm clothes – generosity which he said kept him alive during the cold winter months.
However, the years of living on the streets of Peterborough and alcoholism finally caught up with Mr Smythe.
After months of sleeping in a freezing cold metal shed off Lincoln Road, and later down at The Embankment, he died on December 19.
Paul Sibley, community manager at the Salvation Army Citadel, in Bourges Boulevard, who tried to help get Mr Smythe off the streets, was saddened to hear the news.
He said: "He was always a friendly guy and got on well with people here.
"People will remember him in a good light – I've never heard anyone say a bad word against him.
"But he was quite up front about the problem that he had with drink.
"Sadly, he is another statistic of people who have fallen foul of alcoholism.
"He had actually stopped drinking a few weeks before he died, but something made him get back to that life."
A year ago, The Evening Telegraph highlighted Mr Smythe's plight as he struggled to stay alive in the bitter cold with his then-girlfriend Laura Manton (24).
The couple were not accepted into any shelters or council house schemes as they were both alcoholics, who drank around the clock.
Mr Smythe, who moved to Peterborough from Adelaide, in Australia, in 1989, told The
ET last January: "We sleep in a metal storage shelter with no door and a hole in the roof.
"When it rains, you wake up soaked – you can't describe how cold you get when that happens. You have to drink toblock out nights like that.
"It's only the help we get from people living around here that gets us through the winter. Otherwise, I don't think we'd make it."
Life wasn't always the same for Mr Smythe as he previously had a job, a home and was married with four children.
It was after losing a finger in an industrial accident and moving to England that his wife left him and he turned to drink.
He said: "Since then, I haven't gone a week without drink."
Mr Smythe's funeral will take place at Peterborough Crematorium on Friday at 9.30am.
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Weather for Peterborough
Friday 19 March 2010
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 2 C - 8 C
Wind Speed: 14 Knots
Wind direction: North west
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: 2 C - 10 C
Wind Speed: 18 Knots
Wind direction: North west
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