This Is Guernsey

By Aimee Le Cocq

Four residents of Maison Le Clement residential home have been threatened with eviction over claims of nuisance and abuse. Left to right are: Gerald Bisson, Bernie Domaille and Walter de Carteret, The fourth man, David Bougourd, was unavailable for the picture. (0562774)

FOUR men in their 70s are facing eviction from their States residential homes.

Bernie Domaille, 70, David Bougourd, 73, Walter de Carteret, 73, and Gerald Bisson, 72, all live in Maison Le Clement, the flats which adjoin Maison Maritaine.

They have been sent letters after alleged nuisance behaviour incidents and have been told they face the possibility of losing their home.  One of the letters claimed that Mr Bisson had come home intoxicated in the early hours, been abusive to staff, put food on to cook and fell asleep, which caused the room to fill with smoke.

‘I’ve never come back from the pub incapable,’ said Mr Bisson. ‘It’s absolute rubbish. We don’t cause harassment at all. The others just go straight to bed and sleep it off and we don’t cause a nuisance.  The letters are just going over the top.’

He accepted having almost caused a fire in his flat, where the Fire & Rescue Service was called, but he said he had written to it to apologise over the incident.

Mr Bisson denied an allegation that he was abusive to matron Marion Clark.

Mr Bisson has lived at Maison Le Clement for five years, but said that he and the others were no longer happy.

‘In this day and age we still have to share showers and toilets with other residents. In prison they have their own showers.

‘If they can do that for prisoners, then surely they can do that for the elderly.’

He also said that they are checked on by staff every day. He said that he understood they were trying to be  helpful but he did not appreciate being woken early on a Sunday morning.

A female friend has recently moved out and into private accommodation but Mr Bisson said that would not be his first option because of the cost since he pays a subsidised rate of £25.90 a week.

He hopes that he can instead be transferred to another States residential home.

He has responded to the letter and is waiting for a reply.

‘I do have a daughter, but I wouldn’t want to impose myself on her as she’s got a family and she hasn’t enough room to put me up as well.’

A spokesman for the Housing Department said that the letters had been sent as a warning to the men following complaints from residents and said that they would not necessarily be evicted.

However, he said that because they had broken their tenancy agreement, action had been taken against them.

‘The letters were justified. There was quite a lot of disturbance late at night with several incidents of keys being lost.

‘There was also an incident of a smoke alarm activated because of a chip pan fire. This was unacceptable as the apartments back onto the care home.

‘This type of behaviour comes with risks.’

Friends of the four men complained about their treatment and asked for it to be highlighted.

Article posted on 12th April, 2008 - 9.29am