'Homeless' man found dead in doorway during cold snap in city centre

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The scene in Manchester (Image: UGC/MEN)
The scene in Manchester (Image: UGC/MEN)

A man was tragically found dead in a shop doorway in Manchester city centre in what is believed to be the second death involving a homeless person during recent bitterly cold temperatures.

Emergency services were called to Bloom Street in the city's Gay Village at 10.20am on Sunday and a spokesperson for Greater Manchester Police said the man was sadly 'declared deceased' at the scene. The death is not being treated as suspicious and the force said a cause of death has not yet been determined with the investigation in its "early stages"

The tragedy came as the first flurries of winter snow were reported in Greater Manchester late on Saturday night and temperatures hovered around freezing overnight, with a Met Office weather warning issued for snow and ice. Another man also thought to be homeless died after being found in a car in Beeston, Nottinghamshire.

Police in Manchester said the man, who hasn't been named, was found 'on the street', and witnesses at the scene said he was lying on steps in a doorway. A forensic tent was put up on Bloom Street, straddling the road and the pavement with two police officers pictured standing guard at the scene. A cordon stretched out across the road to the car park opposite.

The man was found slumped on steps in a doorway between the Village Chippy and Roadie's fast-food takeaway, near to the taxi rank, onlookers told the Manchester Evening News. One man, who walked past the scene at around 9am, said he saw the person, who is known in the area, in the doorway and that he assumed he was asleep.

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"I spotted him and thought he was sleeping," he said. "I've been here since this morning. A couple came out of the car park opposite and went over to him and he didn't flinch or move at all, so they rung the ambulance."

A staff member at a local shop, meanwhile, said police were at the scene when they arrived to open up shortly before midday. The tent remained within the cordon until police left the scene at around 2pm on Sunday.

A report on the man's death and a file of evidence is being prepared for the coroner's office in Manchester. A GMP spokesperson said: "At approximately 10.20am on Sunday, December 3 2023, officers were called to reports of an incident on Bloom Street in Manchester. The body of a man was discovered on the street and he was sadly declared deceased. This investigation is in its very early stages and the cause of death is yet to be ascertained. A scene has been put in place and enquires are ongoing. Police are not treating the death of the man as suspicious nor is there believed to be any at third-party involvement. A report will be made for the coroner."

Meanwhile in Beeston, a man is believed to have died after being cut free from a car by fire fighters. Police cordoned off Dallas York Road at 10am on Friday morning and remained there until the evening. It's understood the man had been living in his car.

Paul Britton

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