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

Well, Michael pays good money to keep his family's priceless memories in a

storage

shed

, but six months ago, Squashes moved in and, desperate, called us. I've had enough of these people and I really want them to

leave

for Victoria's Phillip Island. Michael Scamina tidies up in the room he rents to local community groups, between sweeping and cleaning, Michael hangs a smoky photo of Uluru and thinks about the photographer who captured it, his older brother Tony, an exceptional guy who really didn't deserve to die so early in life and absolutely deserves to have his photography honored and presented to the public as a meteorologist by trade Tony was a skilled outback photographer who died suddenly while swimming in 2015.

Tony's estate, including much of his photographs, is kept in a

storage

shed

next to Michael's living room, but therein lies the problem with Michael's dream of opening a gallery, well there are two problems, actually, a couple of intruders squatting in the shed who

refuse

to

leave

, they keep excrement but buckets outside the shed and there is only toilet paper and items in there, cloths and rags that Michael has obviously been charged thousands of dollars in rent since the couple moved in. The police have said it is a civil matter and Michael's attempts to calmly ask the couple to leave have not resolved things.

Look, it may be like that, in general, it was abusive. or distant sometimes unpleasant you have been threatened michael look sometimes there have been threats made to michael your brother's work that means a lot to you is in that shed and you can't access it how difficult it is it's really compromising you know I have some empathy for people and what they're experiencing, but on the other hand you have to draw the line somewhere because it really eats me up inside. I often worry at night, what's going on up there, what's happening with their things. What is going to happen to him?

So can you take us to the door of this and we'll talk to them? Yes, let's try to do it now. Okay, just to go over the arrangements we have. i contacted the police today yes they know we will be in the area yes good day quentin ted costello with the

current

matter yes how long have you been living here oh about six months yes obviously this is a storage shed that is being rented excuse me, I need to call the police, you can call the police if you want, they know what's going on and what's going on, it's none of your business, excuse me, I think you're here illegally, Quentin, excuse me, yes, It's closed, um, you.

You're going to break it if you keep doing that. Well, it's Michael's shed, isn't it? Quinn, no, it's not his shed. He rents it, so can you stop and leave me alone? Well, he won't rent it. He is lying, why is he lying? Why would he do it? Ask us to come here and talk to you about this and ask you to leave the shed because he is a drama queen with a chase mania. Isn't he more likely to be a guy who rents a shed that has

squatters

and loves you? just go this is your chance yes i need the police yes quentin called the police an interesting decision given how the day would play out with your camera well can we have access to the photo?

What a photo? The photograph that belongs to Michael. I want to have it. I don't have anything that belongs to Michael. Now you're accusing me of stealing. There are a lot of things in there that belong to Michael. It's his storage shed over our shoulder. The police arrived and before we turned to talk to them, we gave Quentin one last chance to explain then what is your side of the story Quentin that you are part of what you need to leave later we found out that the police had been on the phone for a while The prosecutor's emergency conference had been held under almost normal conditions and the prosecutor's advice was clear Michael was the lease holder Quentin and Amy were trespassing and how do you feel about that outcome?

Really good. It was a victory for everyone. Michael was gaining access to his shed and following our requests the police promised to provide Quinton and Amy with better support in the form of more suitable accommodation. They loaded us into the van and drove them to the station with Quentin waving goodbye in his own way. Well, Michael, it's been a little over three hours since we first knocked on the door. The police took the two

squatters

away. What is the feeling? I feel very happy about that. I'm so happy that these people are actually going to get the help they've been rejecting for so long.

Well, that's important. Police are taking them to emergency accommodation, meaning the storage shed is now unoccupied. Ready to take a look. Yeah, okay, I'm not looking forward to it, yeah, after months of not knowing that Michael might get to his family heirloom, well, here we are, Michael, do you think it will be like that? Basically, they turned it into a home. I don't expect there to be these types of permanent arrangements. He is not someone who seeks refuge from the cold or the street. It's someone who is setting up a house. There is a heater. There is electricity.

I mean, there's no power to connect here. This could have gone up at any time, couldn't it? Yes, I could have gone further in the image. It became clearer. They have a distribution board here and whatever they've done to get power here. Yeah, so this is the cable coming out of there, I think that's how it was. a situation that could not have continued any longer this is ridiculous we have a small kitchen we have a microwave a double stove but in the back michael had seen something much more important yes, here is a photo, but not just any photo a self-portrait of his older brother tony okay we have your back i need to protect his work and he spent his whole life on this thank you no well done thank you very much seven thanks to here well michael has now been able to take a good look at the shed and says that although some items are missing, it is happy to have access again.