Squatters refuse to leave man’s storage shed | A Current Affair

well michael pays good money to house his family's priceless memories in a storage shed but six months ago squashes moved in and in desperation he called us i've had enough of these people and i really want them to leave on victoria's phillip island michael scamina tidies the hall he rents to local community groups in between the sweeping spraying and wiping michael hangs a smoky shot of uluru and thinks of the photographer who captured it his older brother tony an outstanding fellow that really didn't deserve to die so early in life and absolutely deserves to have his photography honoured and brought to the public a meteorologist by trade tony was a skilled outback photographer who died suddenly while swimming laps in 2015. tony's estate including much of his photography is kept in a storage shed next to michael's hall but therein lies the problem with michael's dream of opening a gallery well there's two problems actually a pair of trespassers squatting in the shed who are refusing to leave they keep excrement but buckets outside of the shed and there's just toilet paper and items there and cloths and rags they're obviously using michael has been charged thousands in rent since the couple moved in police have said it's a civil matter and michael's attempts to calmly ask the pair to leave haven't settled things look it it can be it well generally it was um abusive or standoffish sometimes nasty have they threatened you michael look at times there have been threats made michael your brother's work that means a lot to you is in that shed and you can't get access to it how difficult is that it's really compromising you know you do have some empathy for people and what they're experiencing but on the other hand you have to draw a line somewhere because it really eats away at me inside i worry often at night time what's going on up there what is going on with his stuff what is going to happen to it so can you take us to the door of this absolutely and we'll go speak to them yes let's try and do that now okay so just to run through the arrangements we've got in place we've contacted police today yes they know that we're going to be in the area yes g'day quentin ted costello with the current affair yeah how long you've been living here oh six months or so yeah this is obviously a storage shed that's being leased excuse me do i need to call the police you can call the police if you like they know what's going on and what is going on none of your business excuse me i think you're here illegally quentin excuse me yeah it's bolted shut um you're gonna break it if you keep doing that well it's michael's shed isn't it quinn no it's not his shed he leases it so can you just stop and leave me alone well he's not leasing it he's lying why is he lying why would he ask us to come here and speak to you about it and ask you to leave the shed because he's a drama queen with a persecution mania right isn't it more likely that he's a guy leasing a shed that has squatters in it and he wants you just go away this is your opportunity yes i need the police yes quentin called police an interesting decision given how the day would pan out off with your camera well can we get access to the photography what photography the photography that belongs to michael i want i haven't got anything that belongs to michael now you're accusing me of stealing there's a lot of stuff in there that belongs to michael it's his storage shed over our shoulder police arrived and before turning to speak to them we gave quentin a final chance to explain so what is your side of the story quentin that you're a piece of you need to off we later learned police had been on the phone an emergency prosecutor's conference had been held in nearby normal and the prosecutor's advice was clear michael was the lease holder quentin and amy were trespassing and how do you feel about that result really good it was a win for everyone michael was getting access to his shed and after our requests police promised to get quinton and amy better support in the form of more suitable accommodation they were loaded into the van and taken to the station with quentin waving goodbye in his own way well michael it's now just over three hours since we first knocked on the door the two squatters have been driven away by police what's the feeling feeling pretty happy about it i'm pretty happy that these people are actually going to get the help that they've been refusing for so long well that's important police are taking them to emergency accommodation which means the storage shed is now unoccupied you ready to take a look at it yep all right not looking forward to it okay yep after months of not knowing michael could get to his family heirlooms well here we are michael do you think it'll be like this it's basically they've turned it into a to a dwelling i didn't expect to be this sort of permanent arrangements this is not someone seeking refuge from the cold or the street this is someone setting up a home there's a heater there's electricity i mean there's no power meant to be connected here this could have gone up at any time couldn't it yes it could have going further in the picture became clearer they have a switchboard here and whatever they've done to get into the power here yeah so this is the the cable coming out of there i think so this was a situation that couldn't have gone on any longer this is ridiculous we've got a kitchenette we've got a microwave a dual stove but down the back michael had spotted something far more important yes here is one picture but not just any picture a self-portrait of his big brother tony okay all right we've got your back [Music] i need to protect his work and he spent a lifetime at this thank you no well done thank you very much seven thank you to aca [Music] well michael's now been able to have a good look through the shed and says while a few items are missing he's happy to have access again you

Channel: A Current Affair

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Keywords: a current affair, a current affair scam, a current affair reporter, a current affair australia, channel 9 news, 9 news australia, australia news, world news, australian news, channel 9

Id: 53S_hVekIsA

Length: 7min 10sec (430 seconds)

Published: Tue May 25 2021