A man being evicted from disused land says he will "go to prison" over his right to remain on a site he believes is his home.
Leo Fieran claims he had been living undisturbed under a walkway near railway tracks in Camley Street since 2007, before bailiffs sent by Camden Council "threatened" him and he left in March last year.
The gate was then bolted, but a month later the 55-year-old returned.
The council allowed him to use his own padlocks and he has been there since.
Representing himself as he fights two possession orders and an injunction in the High Court, he spends his days in libraries building his case.
Last Friday he lost an appeal against a possession order issued by Camden Council relating to the first eviction.
Camden's barrister then suggested he should pay her £2,000 costs in court, but the council later said this was "procedural" and will not make him pay.
A court date has not yet been established for the next hearing, which Camden Council lodged on December 6 and which Leo appealed on December 27.
He says Camden will probably win the second possession order but if it also wins an injunction against him, he could be arrested simply for being near the land.
On Sunday (January 28) the Ham&High went to meet him. He had just received a call from Camden's homeless outreach workers and was distressed.
"I told them I do not need their help," he said. "I am not homeless, I have a home, I have an address and a postbox, this is my home."
A former construction worker, Leo moved into number 137 Camley Street in 2007, three years after coming to the UK from Romania, and has indefinite leave to remain.
He sleeps on a wooden pallet and goes to churches for food, hot showers and anything he might need, such as clothes, shoes and tents.
"There is so much available for homeless people during the day", he said.
Over the years he has made many improvements to the area, including clearing overgrown shrubs and repaving a "neglected and overgrown" area beside the railway.
He said: "Now there are no more junkies and prostitutes. The council encouraged me, they said 'good job Leo', thank you Leo.'"
Camden Council's cabinet decided in 2019 to use the land in Camley Street for affordable housing and affordable workspaces.
He says Camden officer Christine Dove came to his squat in November 2020 saying she was sent by "nobody" and asked what he was doing there.
The following July Camden taped a 'notice to vacate' to his gate, not in his postbox, and he only found the notice under a car a few weeks later.
He claims bailiffs then came with bolt cutters and "threatened" him. He said he didn't want to get physical with them or lose his belongings so he left voluntarily.
Asked what he will do next time, he said: "I'll go to prison, but it's not worth going to prison. This is not a crime for someone to come back to their home.
"For Camden homelessness is a crime, to want to stay in your home is a crime, to breathe is a crime.
"I don't have anything against them building flats but you cannot build in this triangle. Let them develop that bit and leave me alone in my corner."
A Camden Council spokesperson said they were taking a "compassionate approach" to "help and support Leo end his occupation of this public land".
"We want to offer him a route away from living on the street and we will continue to try to work with him to do this, but this will require Mr Fieran to engage and take up the support available,” they added.
They would not say they what they might do if a distressed Mr Fieran did not engage.
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